"So, if we take out Aria, the giant will be defeated." Rizzo summed up as she was running with the others as they searched for Aria.
"Exactly." Mirajane said. "Then after Aria we still have to worry about Jose...and that Pennywise guy."
Rizzo frowned knowing none of them had any power even close enough to compete with Jose. Not even on their best day, and none of them were having a good day. Sure, Mirajane was unharmed and it seemed as if physically Elfman was okay too, but that wasn't enough. Jose is a Wizard Saint. They didn't even have an active S-Class wizard with them. She shook her head knowing that worrying about it wasn't helping. They just had to keep moving forward.
When the giant started to shake the group came to a stop. Rizzo frowned hoping that shaking didn't mean the giant was ready to fire. Rizzo stumbled a bit with Craylee steadying her quickly.
"Now what?" Elfman asked.
"Natsu must have beaten the last one." Gray said.
Rizzo let out a sigh of relief before exchanging a smile with Craylee who was also relieved. Though he'd never admit that he was truly worried in the first place.
"Yes, we did it!" Mirajane exclaimed. "We stopped the Abyss Break spell from being cast!"
"Cause we're awesome!" Elfman said.
He held up his hand to Rizzo, and even if she had to jump, she gave him a high five as she grinned. It was definitely one less thing to worry about.
"Heh, you know it!" Gray said cockily.
Craylee just shook his head at his companions though he could understand why they were so happy.
"All members of the Element 4 have been defeated!" Mirajane said.
"Yes, that's all well and good, but we still have work to do." Craylee said with a small frown. "As long as Jose is still standing our guild is still threatened."
The others all frowned knowing he was right, which meant they still needed to be moving.
"Then let's go." Gray said. "We need to find Natsu and Happy before Jose does."
The others nodded before they started going down the hallway again in hopes of reaching Natsu. They hadn't gotten too far before hearing Jose's voice.
"Attention, you pathetic Fairy Tail worms," He began. "Listen carefully because I'll only say this once."
They all then heard someone screaming, Rizzo's blood ran cold since she recognized it immediately.
"I know that scream." Elfman said.
"Lucy." Gray said frowning.
"Oh no," Mirajane murmured.
Craylee grit his teeth together as his hands clenched into fists. He can't believe that Jose got his hands on Lucy.
"We have captured your precious Lucy Heartfilia." Jose continued. "Which means our first order of business is out of the way. That just leaves us with one more thing…my favorite part. Wiping all of you miserable brats right off the face of the earth."
Rizzo stood there with her body shaking due to her rage. If Jose thought he was going to get away with this, he was dead wrong. He would not get away for harming Lucy…for leading to Makarov's current condition…for hurting their guildmates. She'd get him for sure.
"Let's go." Rizzo said. "This isn't over by a long shot."
She took off running with the others following behind her as quickly as possible. Rizzo and the others continued going farther up the giant until they came to a large open room. It seemed as if a battle had occurred, and Rizzo's eyes widened when she saw Erza propped up against a pillar looking worse for wear.
"Ezra!" Mirajane exclaimed in surprise.
Everyone was quick to move over to their guildmate, but stayed out of the way as Craylee moved to kneel beside Erza since he was probably the only one here that knew basic medical magic.
"Is she okay?" Gray asked.
Craylee didn't answer at first as he placed his hand on Erza's shoulder, which had her waking. She opened her eyes to look at Craylee then the others.
"It's you." Erza said.
"If you haven't noticed, Erza, then let me tell you that you're very injured at the moment." Craylee deadpanned. "That means you shouldn't be here."
Erza lightly chuckled at Craylee's blunt tone as Rizzo leaned over from behind him to get a look at her.
"Yeah, you're looking pretty shabby right now, Erza." Rizzo said. "It's pathetic really."
Erza just grinned, which had Rizzo snorting at her in return.
"Whoa!" Elfman exclaimed.
The others looked to see what had caught his attention, and they saw Aria laying on the ground defeated.
"That's Aria!" Mirajane said.
"You got shot by that cannon and still fought this guy?" Elfman asked.
"What were you thinking?" Gray demanded.
"Obviously she wasn't." Rizzo said.
Craylee snorted in agreement as he tried to access how bad Erza's injuries were. The redhead remained still for him, but didn't seem too worried about herself as she looked to her guildmates.
"I must admit, I never wanted anyone to see me in such a wretched state." Erza said smiling. "I guess I've still got a lot to learn."
Rizzo rolled her eyes at the mighty Erza though was a bit relieved the redhead was alright. If anything happened to her, Rizzo would lose her rival. The group then stiffened when hearing footfalls heading their way. They all turned and were surprised to see Blaze with something or someone thrown over his shoulder.
"I was wondering where you all had gotten off to," He said casually as he stopped a few feet away from them. "You didn't make it easy to catch up to you."
The group just blinked at him for a second as he looked back at them as if everything was fine.
"Blaze, you're supposed to be with Team Shadow Gear," Erza reminded him as she tried to sit up. "What are you doing here?"
"Levy insisted I come and help you all." Blaze said with a shrug. "Seems like you all have things pretty much wrapped up though. All I had to worry about so far was this guy."
He then unceremoniously dropped what he was carrying to the ground and some of the others gasped when seeing who it was. It was Jose's clown bodyguard.
"Is that Pennywise?!" Mirajane asked in shock. "But how…how did you beat him?"
Rizzo wanted to know as well. Blaze didn't even look the littlest bit ruffled. Like, not a strand seemed out of place, and come to think of it, Pennywise looked rather unharmed as well. Except for the whole being unconscious thing.
"Luck," Blaze said simply with a shrug.
"Luck?!" Gray and Elfman repeated in disbelief.
Though before they could press the matter, the room suddenly seemed to fill with this suffocating darkness that had everyone on alert. Gray moved in closer to Rizzo as Craylee stood up on his feet with a frown on his features. He remained in front of Erza as Mirajane crouched down to their wounded guildmate.
"What the?" Gray muttered.
"What is this?" Mirajane asked.
"I sense death." Erza said.
Rizzo quickly had her guitar in hand at the ready as the feeling seemed to only get deeper. This feeling was giving her the creeps, and she didn't want to be caught completely off guard.
"I don't like this feeling." Gray said.
"Whoa, I'm super manly, and it gives me chills." Elfman said.
Gray moved even closer to Rizzo to the point where his back was pressed against her chest.
"Whatever it is it's pure evil." Mirajane said.
Rizzo had to agree with her there. When someone started clapping, they all whirled around to see Jose who was most definitely the cause to this horrible feeling.
"Bravo." He said. "You're all quite keen. Very impressive, Fairy Tail wizards. I knew this would be fun, but never in my wildest dreams did I think it'd be this entertaining. You annihilated the Jupiter cannon, defeated my bodyguard, disposed of my elite Element 4, made fools out of my daughters, and you even managed to bring my magic giant to its knees."
Rizzo narrowed her eyes at the man before them as he looked at them with a sinister twinkle in his eyes.
"Master Jose." Erza said.
"This creep?" Elfman asked.
"He's Phantom's master?" Gray questioned.
"Well, if it's not him then I'd hate to see who the real master is." Craylee quipped.
Gray frowned at the seamster since now wasn't the time to be joking around like that.
"It's like a black cloud is hanging over him." Mirajane as she covered her mouth. "I feel sick just being near him."
"Thank-you." Jose continued from where he had left off as if the group hadn't been talking. "You've been so kind to entertain me. I simply must return the favor."
Gray and Elfman immediately stepped in front of the girls as Craylee stood off to the side. Blaze was with them as he frowned at the obstacle before them. They all knew very well they were no match for Jose, but it wasn't like they could just lie down and take what he was about to dish out.
"Ready?" Gray asked Elfman.
"You bet." Elfman said.
"I'll return it in full," Jose said as he raised his hand.
The boys went forward to attack, but were easily knocked down by Jose's magic. It was like it was child's play to the man.
"Elfman, Gray, Craylee, Blaze!" Mirajane called out.
Jose then used some kind of explosive power to knock everyone back. Rizzo barely managed to remain on her feet as the others were sent flying. Erza managed to get up herself and without hesitation made a run at Jose. She switched over to her Black Wing Armor while trying to land a hit on the man, but he managed to easily dodge Erza in her weakened state. He then grabbed her wrist and was about to throw her back when a blast of sound magic was sent at him. He used his own magic to block the attack, but during the distraction, Erza was able to get away. The redhead jumped back while being able to regroup with Rizzo.
"Fascinating. The both of you," Jose said. "You, Erza Scarlet, took a shot from Jupiter full force, did you not? Yet you're still standing. And though not as impressive, you Rizzo Sweeney, went toe to toe with my daughters and have managed to stand up to my attacks thus far."
Rizzo's brow twitched rapidly in annoyance at the 'not as impressive comment' as her eyes narrowed. She turned towards Erza.
"Can we just end this already?" Rizzo asked. "This old fart is getting on my nerves."
Despite the obvious insult, Jose chuckled at Rizzo's words as if they amused him. This only had the pinkette throwing the man another annoyed look.
"Yes, I am going to get great pleasure from destroying the two of you." Jose said.
He then sent out another wave of explosions and while Erza managed to dodge in time, Rizzo felt her knees buckle. She cursed taking the hit head on, which sent her flying backwards. She hit one f the large stone pillars in the room before falling to the ground with a sickening thud.
"Rizzo!" The others called as the pinkette laid there trying to catch her breath.
She felt things going dark around her, but before she blacked out, she saw both Gray and Blaze's faces above her then nothing. Gray looked down at Rizzo in concern before turning his glare on Jose. Blaze even looked a bit angry as he looked towards Phantom's guild master. Before either of them could even think about attacking Jose hit them with another explosion that sent them flying.
Gray took the fall for him and Rizzo before laying her on the ground, so to cover her body with his own when Jose attacked again. Blaze tried to offer cover, but soon fell beside Gray just trying to keep himself covered. Gray laid there wondering if there was anyone left that could help them, or if the others were even faring well at all on their end.
"What are those ghosts doing now?" Jaser asked frowning.
He was starting to feel really tired, and if he was feeling like this, he couldn't imagine how the others were feeling. As a Dragon Slayer he had a lot more stamina than the others, but even he was starting to feel weary. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. What was making it worse was that those ghosts were all gathering together to form some kind of shadow ball.
Suddenly the shadow sphere grew a few arms with hands, which had many of the others stiffening in surprise.
"That thing's got creepy hands everywhere." Laki said.
"That's the least of our troubles." Wakaba argued.
"Yeah, this is bad." Macao said.
The thing started pounding on the already beaten up guildhall, which had them all panicking.
"That monster's trying to destroy our guildhall!" Cana said with tears in her eyes.
Everyone started firing at the monster, but Jaser soon realized that it wasn't doing anything to it. He grit his teeth wondering how they were supposed to deal with this thing. He narrowed his eyes knowing there might only be one thing he can do.
"This is going to leave a bad taste in my mouth." Jaser said. "I just know it."
Jaser then ran towards the guildhall, which surprised everyone who noticed him.
"Jaser, what are you doing?" Bastet called out to him as she flew over the chaos.
"About to have a snack." He said as he managed to climb up the guildhall as it was crumbling.
"What?!" Bastet asked with wide eyes. "You can't! If you eat any other magic beside sand, you'll only make yourself sick or worse!"
"Yeah, don't be crazy!" Bisca added.
Cana's eyes widened as she watched Jaser go higher and higher until he could practically touch the monster. Jaser faced the monster fearlessly as he narrowed his eyes.
"A little stomach ache is nothing." Jaser said. "This guildhall is our home. It's this place that brought all of us together, which means I'm going to do everything I can to protect it."
Everyone watched on in shock as Jaser seemed to start taking in a deep breath. The shadow ball creature started getting pulled in before it started breaking into pieces, so to go into Jaser's mouth. He continued eating and eating even though he was starting to feel really sick.
"It's working!" Laki exclaimed. "The arm monster is shrinking!"
"Yeah, but Jaser isn't looking too good," Wakaba said.
Cana watched on in worry as Jaser continued to force himself to eat. The shadow creature had lost a little over half its size when Jaser felt like he was going to pass out. He was seeing spots in his vision, and he felt really wobbly on his feet.
"Oh no." Macao said.
"Oh no?" Cana asked. "What do you mean "oh no"? What's wrong?"
"His body is reacting violently to the shade magic." Macao said with a serious expression on his face. "Look."
He pointed up at Jaser, and when Cana looked up, she could see Jaser was holding his torso as if it hurt him. He also looked a bit unstable on his feet, but even so he tried to continue eating. Cana knew he couldn't go on much longer.
"Jaser, just stop already!" Cana pleaded. "You're only hurting yourself! Stop!"
Others echoed her calls as the Sand Dragon Slayer was turning paler by the second. It seemed as if they got their wish as Jaser suddenly stopped eating, and when he teetered forward, everyone gasped. He started falling off the guildhall, which had some screaming in fright.
"Bastet, catch him!" Macao ordered.
Bastet was already on it as she managed to swoop in and catch Jaser. She gently lowered him to the ground with many of members of the guild rushing over to check on him. Bastet stood by his side worriedly as the boy gagged and panted as his body instinctively curled up to try and sooth the pain.
"This isn't good," Macao said as he knelt beside the boy.
Wakaba nodded in agreement as he watched Jaser struggle with the pain. If he wasn't treated, things could get a lot worse for the Dragon Slayer.
"Let me through!" Cana ordered pushing through everyone.
She made it to Jaser, and she quickly knelt down beside him as he continued to shake in pain. Macao and Wakaba were looking over him as they had Jaser lay back on his back instead of his side.
"He took in way too much." Macao said as he touched Jaser's shoulder. "He needs medical treatment."
Cana looked at Jaser worriedly as she touched his arm gently. He weakly opened his eyes to look at her and Bastet as they hovered over them.
"Jaser," Bastet whimpered.
Jaser managed to reach up and put his arm around his little pal and Bastet sniffled as she hugged Jaser the best she could.
"You moron, what were you thinking?" Cana asked as his gold orbs fell on her.
Jaser just gave a weak grin as he reached up to place his free hand on top of Cana's head. She looked surprised by the gesture, but soon Jaser passed out with his hand slipping off of her head. She caught it, however, and gripped it tightly in her own. Cana felt tears enter her eyes knowing he had tried so hard…but the monster was still going. She flinched when she heard the entire place coming down. Her tears hit Jaser's cheek making it almost look as if the Dragon Slayer was crying as well.
"You did well." Cana said between sobs. "Don't think otherwise, you idiot."
She then gasped as more of those shade creatures began to reform to attack. A few came flying towards her and the wounded Jaser.
"Get down!" Macao called out to her.
Cana quickly covered Jaser with her own body to protect him, but before the shades could attack, they were blown back by a ring of dark purple fire. She was then lifted off the ground along with other wounded members of the guild as the ground shifted and transformed into wide pillars.
"Looks like we made it after all," A familiar voice spoke as two figures stood in front of Cana and Bastet who still held the wounded Jaser. "But not fast enough it seems. We're sorry, everyone, for taking so long."
"Don't worry," The second figure said. "We'll take over from here."
The Fairy Tail wizards' expressions turned into relief and happiness when seeing the two who arrived.
"Sven, Breccan!" They cheered.
The two brothers stood side-by-side as they faced the threat in front of them. Breccan's arms were covered in the dark flames of his magic before he rushed forward.
"You watch the wounded." Breccan called over his shoulder. "I'll handle this."
Sven chuckled watching as Breccan attacked the shades while quickly taking them out one after another and they weren't respawning after being hit by his magic.
"He's in a mood," Sven commented before glancing back at Cana. "Sorry for not getting her sooner, Cana. We wouldn't have gotten here at all if it weren't for Mystogan's help."
Cana's eyes widened at the mention of Mystogan. She had no idea he knew about what was going on. She hadn't even been able to get a lead on the guy earlier.
"He sends a message by the way," Sven said then pulled a flag out of his inner jacket pocket.
Cana's eyes got even wider when seeing the flag belonged to that of Phantom Lord.
"You won't have to worry about the other branches of Phantom Lord," Sven said. "They've been taken care of. I heard even Amara took down a few of their bases in the area she was in."
Mystogan and Amara took down the rest of Phantom on their own? Cana couldn't believe it. They were struggling against one part of Phantom and those two took down who knows how many Phantom bases on their own. Cana came out of her thoughts as Sven placed a hand on her head.
"You all did your best," Sven said. "Besides, you've had the main forces of Phantom bearing down on you. To have done this much damage to them without backup, you all have nothing to be ashamed of. Now rest, we and the Master will take care of the rest."
Cana was confused at first, but soon the ground started shaking and lighting flashed in the sky above the giant. Some screamed in fright from the magic power building up. Sven just watched on knowing it'd all be over soon.
Rizzo groaned while starting to feel herself wake. As her eyes opened, she was slightly blinded a golden light. Once her eyes adjusted, she saw Master Makarov before her.
"Ma…Master," She murmured.
"Rizzo, you're awake," Craylee said getting her attention.
Rizzo looked to her brother as he was holding her in his arms. He stood back with the others as Gray and Elfman stood before them and Mirajane. Blaze was on the other side of the room behind Jose with a look of annoyance on his face as he held his right arm as if it was hurt.
"You kids need to get out while you still can." Makarov told them as he blocked an attack from Jose.
The two magics colliding had the entire place shaking, and even Rizzo was feeling a bit intimidated by the oppressing forces.
"Gramps!" Gray called out.
"We'll stay with you!" Elfman insisted.
Erza looked to her stubborn guildmates as Craylee was setting down Rizzo. Both siblings looked determined to stay as well.
"No, we have to do as he says." Erza said firmly as she hurried to their sides.
Rizzo frowned because she didn't want to do that at all. She wanted to stay with Makarov. Last time he fought without them against Jose, Jose pulled a dirty trick that nearly killed their master.
"Let's go," Erza ordered.
"But, Erza!" Gray protested.
Elfman, who never better than to argue, went to check on Mirajane as his elder sister remained on the ground.
"Sis, think you can stand?" He asked.
Mirajane looked unsure for a moment before nodding. Elfman helped her to her feet as the two Wizard Saints continued to face off.
"Well, now that you're here, I have no interest in those children of yours," Jose said. "I'll exterminate those pests once I finish you off."
Makarov didn't seem too concerned with Jose's words as he stood at the ready to continue fighting. He just wanted his children out of the way first, which meant he needed to find a way to get Blaze over to the others. The boy looked injured. He was clutching his right arm and didn't seem to be putting a lot of weight on his left leg.
"We can't leave now," Rizzo said. "Blaze is still over there."
"And we will get him, Rizzo." Erza assured the girl. "But if we stay here, we'll only be in Master's way. I have faith in him. He'll be fine. Now let's get Blaze and get out of here. I'll need a distraction."
Gray and Rizzo nodded as they could handle that well enough even if they were exhausted and low on magic power.
"I'll be fine!" Blaze called out to them. "Just go! I can make my own way out!"
"We're not leaving you here, man!" Gray argued.
Blaze sighed with his frown deepening before he forced himself completely onto his feet. He took a breath and the others looked at him as if he was crazy as he started running headlong towards Jose. Even Makarov looked shocked as Blaze ran forward without hesitation.
"Is he crazy?!" Elfman asked.
Erza called for Blaze to stop, but he didn't. He continued running looking as if he was going to ram right into Jose who was turning at his approach. However, last minute, Blaze flipped over Jose while even using his head as a springboard to get more air. Jose shouted in outrage as he shot his magic at the boy. Blaze dodged then landed behind Makarov to where the others stood. The group gave him a dumbfounded expression.
"What?" He asked.
"…Are you even human?" Rizzo asked as she frowned at him.
"I don't know," Blaze replied with a shrug.
"What do you mean, you don't know?!" Elfman asked.
Craylee just shook his head as Gray sighed from beside him. Erza just chuckled glad Blaze was with them.
"Let's go," Erza said. "Master will handle the rest. We need to get out of the way. Everything will be over soon."
She then led everyone out with Blaze bringing back the rear. He glanced back at the two battling Wizard Saints with a smirk pulling across his face.
'Yeah, it'll be over real soon,' He said.
He looked down at the orb in his hand that was glowing an eerie black color. Coming here turned out to be profitable after all and the target is out safe and sound. Now, all they had to do was wait until the mighty Makarov ended it all.