So first off i am very sorry how long it took to get this chapter out. I had to go through many different version of how I wanted to do this chapter until I Eventually choose this one. Hopefully you all like it as much as I do. The next chapter is going to be the beginning of the edolas arc so it should not be as long between this chapter and the next. So until next time please enjoy the chapter and leaver a review.
The next day started out normally but ended far from normal. Members walked in and out of the guild hall as they left for quests or got back from completing a quest. Mikoto was in her usual spot up in the rafters resting when the sound of a bell could be heard throughout the city. A guild member came running into the guild and yelled, "Gildarts is back!" the guild responds in glee, with the newest members of the guild going to the guild entrance to watch as the town transformed.
"Whats happening to the town!?" Lucy exclaims.
"Its changing for Gildarts, its better this way to prevent damage to the town." Mirajane explains.
"Is he that clumsy?" Lucy responds bewildered. She watched as the town finished transforming and a lone man could be seen walking through the town towards the guild. Eventually he arrives at the guild with all but the new members calling out the name Gildarts. Mirajane walks up to greet him after the commotion settled.
"Welcome home Gildarts!" Mirajane says.
"Im looking for a guild called Fairy Tail. I dont recognize this place nor do I recognize you," Gildarts response in confusion.
"This is Fairy Tail and I am Mirajane," Mirajane responds showing no disappointment at Gildarts confusion.
"Really! Man you changed alot Mirajane!" Gildarts exclaims.
"Gildarts!" Natsu exclaims jumping up into the air.
"Natsu! Now thats a face i recognize!" He doesnt get to say much more as Natsu tried to land a hit on him but was effortlessly knocked away.
"Now Im beginning to recognize everyone. But there are some new people I dont recognize. Care to introduce yourselves?" Gildarts asks.
"My name is Lucy, a celestial spirit mage," Lucy says introducing herself.
"Im Wendy, a sky dragon slayer and this is my friend Carla," Wendy states, introducing herself and carla.
"Im Touma," Touma says simply to introduce himself.
"Well its great to meet you all. But one person has not introduced themselves yet." Gildarts replies, looking up at the rafters and directly at Mikoto.
"Who are you?" Gildarts asks
Mikoto doesnt respond right away. Instead she jumps down from her ledge and walks over to stand infront of Gildarts. The guild went quiet fearing a confrontation between these two. Mikoto looks directly at Gildarts covered side, obviously noticing the injuries that he was trying to hide from the other guild members.
"The name is Mikoto. I am a level 5 and 6 Electromaster nicknamed the Railgun." Mikoto finally says.
"Whats with the levels?" Gildarts asks.
"From where I come from it identifies how strong you are. Level 6 is the absolute strongest," Mikoto explains with a smile.
"So im guessing you are a very strong lightning mage?" Gildarts assumes
"No. I am whats called an esper. My powers were given to me at birth and i do not need to use magic to control the electricity around me. Everything involving electricity i can control, thus the title of Electromaster." Mikoto further explains.
"Thats interesting. I know I came here to rest and come back home but now you got me really interested in how strong you are. There has not been a member in Fairy Tail that could truly stand up to me for a long time." Gildarts comments.
"I would gladly show you but not right now. Lets just enjoy you coming back home," Mikoto states, extending her hand to shake hands with him, a gesture he returns. This allows everyone in the guild to finally let out the breath they had been holding. For the next couple of hours everything went smoothly with Gildarts still in the guild hall until Gildarts notices that Mikoto is again missing.
"Where did Mikoto go?" He asks Makarov.
"She said she was going outback to train." Mirajane comments.
"I want to go and see this," Gildarts says. Erza, Gray, Wendy, Mirajane, Touma, Natsu, Lucy and Makarov join him and walk outside. There they see Mikoto standing in the middle of the sandy training area.
"So is this your training area?" Gildarts asks, drawing Mikotos attention to him.
"Oh hey guys. Anywhere can be my training area, this is just the spot for today," Mikoto replies.
"Zapper, are you going to be using that device Raiden gave you?" Touma asks, already guessing what she was going to do.
"Yes I am." Mikoto replies while using her summoning magic to summon in her battle gear. This set was slightly modified from the previous version she had showed up. It still contained the black cloak and hood, but the difference came with her weapons. She still had her HF Blade and sheath strapped to her side as well as each hidden blade strapped under her wrist, but now strapped to her chest was a holder for 10 throwing knives.
"Zapper you know what happened the last time you used that device," Touma presses, trying to convince her not to do it.
"I know but it does make me stronger," Mikoto replies, hearing no more of Touma trying to convince her. She uses her magic to summon in the device, which appears to be a strange looking device that goes on kinda like a tight fighting hat. As she puts it on the others begin to wonder what it is.
"What is that thing she is putting on," Gray asks Touma.
"Thats the device i was trying to get her to not use. It uses her own power against her. It does that by preventing her from using her power in any way and then uses her power to create creatures that she then has to fight. As long as she still has power left the creatures will keep on spawning until she can no longer fight. It also uses a heads up display to show Mikoto how she is progressing as well as how many opponents she has beaten. It basically drains her of her power in order to force her to reach a new limit." Touma explains. Just then Mikoto activates the device and creatures begin to spawn around her. Some looked human like while others looked like they came out of a nightmare. They charge forward with Mikoto waiting to the last minute to begin her fight. At first she relied on her hand to hand training, delivering swift kicks and punches to each creature while spinning around, ducking, and blocking to negate attacks. Finally she jumps into the air, drawing two knives and effortlessly throwing them into her desired targets. Then as she landed she spun to avoid another strike while drawing two more knives and sending them into another two targets. As each creature was "killed" it dissolved and a new creature was spawned in, along with the constant flow of new creatures. Mikoto jumps to the side to avoid a strike and impaled the creature responsible with another knife. She was now down to 5 knives so she had to be careful how she used them. 4 more creatures charged her from different angles as the speakers she had summoned around her training area begin to play No more Sorrow by linkin park. She drew her Hf blade, cutting one creature in half with the first move, and using the momentum from the first strike to cut down the others. From a viewers perspective she was spinning around effortlessly cutting down opponents. Every strike she made with her sword lead into her next, each one being one hit to her opponents. She dodges another strike and using this dodge to then cut off the legs of one creature and then jumping up to decapitate another. She stabs her sword backward into the delegged creature, and spins around and decapitates another. Her constant movements prevented her from being completely surrounded at any given point. Each strike was a fatal blow to any creature that she hit. Even though this style of fighting was really effective at preventing exhaustion by the fighter, it's only flaw was if that momentum was stopped it was hard to regain. Also even though it is less tiring than other ways of fighting, it would still eventually tire out its user if the fight lasts long enough. By now Mikoto had defeated 22 of the creatures, when one of them lands a hard hit on her that sends her flying. Her sword imbedding itself in the ground a distance away from her. The song Hero by skillet begins to play as she got back to her feet breathing heavily. She saw 10 more creatures charging her, some with weapons. She charged forward kneeing one in the face with both her knees, then rolling forward on the ground she stabbed the next in the chest with the hidden blade on her right hand and while rolling over it she grabbed its halberg with her left and impaled the next in the chest with it. The next charges her but a punch to the face allowed her to grab its sword, twist behind its back block another strike with the sword and then stab the creature with its own sword. She ducked under another strike and a swift kick broke the neck of that creature. Then a side step caused one creature to kill another and giving Mikoto enough time to activate both hidden blades. She started to use the blades very effectively, using one to block the strike while the other dealt the damage. Eventually the sheer numbers overwhelmed her with one creature grabbing hold of her while others landed hard hits against her before she was then tossed across the area. She landed on the ground and tumbled a distance, barely managing to get back up on one knee. She was now exhausted after having defeated 50 creatures. But her previous amount was 58 and she was not going to go down without having at least defeated that many. The song "I will not Bow" Plays as Mikoto charges forward once again. In her charge she uses three more knives to kill three more creatures. She ducked under one strike and used one of her last two knives to kill that opponent. Then flipping her last knife between her hands she takes down multiple opponents, before it is eventually sent flying into another creature's forehead. But through all of this she had gotten to her target, which was her sword still embedded in the ground. She pulls it out and confronts the creatures charging her again. With this sword again in her hands, her confidence was restored and the fight in her eyes gleamed fully. She charged forward, again cutting down foe after foe, but Erza noticed something. Mikotos fighting style had changed. It was no longer the elegant form she had used previously to conserve her energy. Her strikes were wild, relying more on the strength of the Hf Blade than good aim or strength in Mikotos strikes.
"She is at her limit," Gildarts announces what Erza was realizing.
Mikoto had now defeated 70 creatures when the blade was again knocked out of her hands as she was again sent flying into the ground. As she lay there on the ground, the creatures began to slowly fall apart, making it known that Mikotos ability was almost out. But just when everyone thought she was down, Mikoto forces her power to its limits and sparks began to fly, reforming the creatures. She stumbles back to her feet, her head hanging down as the song "Bleed it out" by linkin park started. The creatures again charge, but Mikoto dodges the strikes and dealt deadly blows with the hidden blades. When Touma caught sight of the look in her eyes he was shocked. No longer was it filled with the light of battle, but with the light of someone not willing to give up. She manages to finish off another 10 creatures before her ability fully gave up. All the creatures still standing crumbled into dust and there in the middle Mikoto stood. Her power was now completely worn out as she took the headpiece off, but her body was still standing, for a second. Then she collapsed onto one knee, causing everyone to run over to her. But before any of them could get close she held them off with a hand held up. She looked up at the sky, drawing everyone's attention to it. It was very weird, as an electrical storm was building right above the town, but nowhere else. Then a huge bolt of lightning struck down onto Mikoto. When the smoke cleared Mikoto was standing in front of them in her level 6 form, having had her power rejuvenated by the lightning.
"I thought you were out of power Mikoto," Erza says
"I was. That headpiece i was using totally drains me of my power, but my power tends to attract electrical storms and that revived my power enough for now." Mikoto explains, exiting her level 6 form.
"So your training only involved physical training?" Gildarts asked.
"No it also training the endurance of my ability because of the device constantly draining my power. The more i do this, the longer my ability will last in fights," Mikoto explains. She grabs a coin from her pocket and fires a railgun with her right hand over the water. Just as predicted it was just ever so slightly stronger than her last one. Also this was Gildarts first time seeing her Railgun and he was shocked by its intensity, though he realized his own magic would be able to neutralize it. Suddenly Mikotos legs become very shaky and she almost collapses to the ground, if it wasn't for Touma quickly supporting her with his shoulder.
"I guess I did go a little too far," Mikoto says looking at Touma with a slight smile. Touma took her back into the guild hall to rest but not before Mikoto notices Gildarts saying something to Natsu before leaving for his house. She knew what that was about, but it was none of her business and either way she was too tired to act. In fact for the rest of the day she was too worn out to do anything but sit in the guild hall and hold conversations with others.
Fall
Now the dark begins to rise
Save your breath, it's far from over
Leave the lost and dead behind
Now's your chance to run for cover
I don't wanna change the world
I just wanna leave it colder
Light the fuse and burn it up
Take the path that leads to nowhere
All is lost again
But I'm not giving in
I will not bow
I will not break
I will shut the world away
I will not fall
I will not fade
I will take your breath away
Fall
Watch the end through dying eyes
Now the dark is taking over
Show me where forever dies
Take the fall and run to Heaven
All is lost again
But I'm not giving in
I will not bow
I will not break
I will shut the world away
I will not fall
I will not fade
I will take your breath away
And I'll survive, paranoid
I have lost the will to change
And I'm not proud, cold-blooded fake
I will shut the world away
I will not bow
I will not break
I will shut the world away
I will not fall
I will not fade
I will take your breath away
And I'll survive; paranoid
I have lost the will to change
And I'm not proud, cold-blooded fake
I will shut the world away
Fall