AN: As always before we begin, Reviewer Replies! :D

Raidentensho: (looks back at the Mattachu arc in confusion before snapping back around to look at you) Eh, have ya not noticed all the teasing and flirting between those two? Yeah bro, she's totally into him. The only reason they aren't already bangin' like bunnies is because Erza knows he's datin' Mira and thinks they're actually great together. As for MAR, no idea what that is, so no, a shout out is quite unlikely. As always, glad you're enjoying!

Beruit: Glad you enjoyed! Here's the fights this whole arc has been building towards!

ZBHunter: Wooooo indeed my friend, wooooo indeed.

Zeak106: What shall we do with him? Applaud of course! Here is your ticket, please proceed down the screen to your front row seat!

WarWolfsaga: Yes I really wanted the big reveal to be the closing line of the chapter to get everyone absolutely as hype as possible for this week.

Boggie445: (In response to your review to Ch21) If you've made it this far then I'm sure you've realized by now that there is no relation between Serena and God Serena. Hope you're still enjoying! :D

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Small side note, did anyone catch the significance of what Erza said at the end of the last chapter? Ah well, if you didn't get it then, you DEFINITELY will by the end of this chapter.

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Also, hip hip hooray, we passed 200,000 words today! (Reviewer Replies not counting towards the total) To celebrate, ask me anything! If the answer isn't TOO spoilery then I shall gleefully answer in next week's Reviewer Replies!

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And now, ON TO THE MAIN EVENT! HANG ON CAUSE THIS RIDE'S ABOUT TO GET ROUGH!

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Chapter 36: All Laid Bare

12:00 AM, Near The Tower's Main Support Pillar

"Step up and get it, 'cause I get wicked!" Vidaldus finished as his song reached its end. Before he could even gloat over what had in his opinion been an epic performance, the spotlight suddenly went out and eerie green light revealed a metal stage had been erected in the dark as mist began to roll out of the dark. "What the…?"

Then the sound of a wavering guitar echoed from seemingly everywhere as a voice that sent chills down Vidaldus's spine whispered, "Superstition, fear, and jealousy…"

Then invisible drums began to thump, the wavering turned to the sound of what couldn't be just one guitar shredding a heavy beat. Vidaldus's eyes flitted around, there wasn't anyone on the stage yet so where…? Then he saw movement and his heart seized in irrational terror as a massive figure covered in spikes with evil glowing green eyes loomed out of the fog and with a stomp that shook the stage began to sing,

"DEAD I AM THE ONE, EXTERMINATING SON!

SLIPPIN' THROUGH THE TREES,

STRANGLIN' THE BREEZE!"

It wasn't completely lost on Vidaldus that the ground and walls were shaking, but the figure on the stage had his attention as it took a brief instrumental break before,

"DEAD I AM THE SKY, WATCHIN' ANGELS CRY,

WHILE THEY SLOWLY TURN, CONQUERING THE WORM.

DIG THROUGH THE DITCHES

AND BURN THROUGH THE WITCHES!

I SLAM IN THE BACK OF MY DRAGULA!

DIG THROUGH THE DITCHES

AND BURN THROUGH THE WITCHES!

I SLAM IN THE BACK OF MY DRAGULAAA!

DO IT BABY, DO IT BABY,

I'LL BURN LIKE AN ANIMAAAL…

Unnoticed by Gajeel or Vidaldus, while her enchantment forced the whole tower to vibrate at the same frequency as Gajeel's music and thus shake itself apart, Levy was in the edge of the fog dancing with a massive grin on her face while her Archive recorded the whole show.

12:00 AM, The Tower's Sakura Garden

Lucy didn't even have time to turn before the pink haired assassin's blade crashed into the side of her hood. The suit's instant hardening was the only thing that kept her head attached as she was sent flying across the room into a wall. Unlike the pink haired assassin, Lucy didn't make a crater. Instead she bounced off and landed in a heap at the base of the wall as a voice sang, "Dead I am the one, exterminating son…"

"LUCY!" Natsu shouted only for the pink haired assassin's blade to flash out again and a blade of magical energy to slam into him, flinging him back down the hall as blood flew.

"Slippin' through the trees, stranglin' the breeze!"

Dimaria shoved herself off the side of the bridge, Have to get to cover! Before she could hit the water, a blade of energy roared through the bridge like it wasn't there and slammed into her thigh as she realized it was a much further drop than she'd anticipated. Dimaria cried out in pain and only the sudden avalanche of snow kept the next slash and the fall from killing her.

"Dead I am the sky watchin' angels cry!"

Dimaria scrunched her eyes shut as she heard Lucy yelp and then start to scream as what sounded like a hailstorm of magical sword strokes rained down on her. Dimaria forced all the magic she could muster through the lacrima she could sense imbedded in her gut, COME ON! HEAL DAMN IT! I HAVE TO HELP!

"As they slowly turn, conquering the worm!"

"LEAVE HER ALO-GAH!" Natsu roared as he erupted back into the room only to catch another slash right across, "GYAH! MY EYES!" A rapid staccato of impacts signaled the sound of another flurry of blades slamming into him as Lucy shrieked, "NATSU!"

Dimaria's heart seized in terror as she realized that no matter how fast she healed, she wasn't going to be done in time.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you," the pink haired assassin declared coldly, "Mugetsu Style, GARUDA FLAME!" A wave of fire rocketed towards Lucy, and a split second later, the pink haired assassin cried out in surprise as the flames suddenly disappeared.

"Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches, I slam in the back of my Dragulaaa!"

"NOW I'VE GOT A FIRE IN MY BELLY!" Natsu roared, "FIRE DRAGOOON…"

"Mugetsu Style!" Natsu's half formed attack was knocked wide as a fresh blade of magic slammed into his shoulder.

Right then a small blue figure with large white wings landed in Dimaria's vision, "Dimaria! Are you ok?!"

Dimaria's eyes weren't focused on Happy though, they were focused on the freshly ignited cherry tree overhead, she snapped a hand out and caught Happy, "Happy! You're fireproof right?"

"WHAT'S THAT GOT TO DO WITH ANYTHING?" Happy demanded, "We need to get you out of here! Natsu and Lucy's kitty suit are holding up, but you're hurt really bad!"

Dimaria caught Happy in both hands, "Happy listen to me. Those two cannot beat her alone. If you can stir Natsu's flames in that tree into a fire storm with your wings, then I can eat it and use it to beat that witch!"

Happy's eyes went wide and his gaze snapped up as his jaw dropped in awe. He shook his head and gave her a dead serious look, "I hope you're right!" With that he was suddenly gone and in the less than a minute, Dimaria was lying at the base of a tornado of fire ringed by a blur of blue and white.

"Dead I am the pool spreading from the fool, weak and want you need nowhere as you bleed…"

"I'M NOT LOSING ANYONE ELSE!" Dimaria shouted as she thrust herself towards the flames and began to searing pain filled her body, but she scrunched her eyes shut and kept chugging the flames like water.

Natsu and Lucy saw what she was trying to do and sprang across the space between them and the pink haired assassin, fire and snow flying in tandem as they unleashed their breath attacks. A split second later, magic blades slammed them to the ground from above. The pink haired assassin landed atop one of the arches over the bridge and observed them coldly, "If you had not killed Fukuro, you might have walked away from this."

"Dead I am the rat, feast upon the cat! Tender is the fur, dying as you purr!"

The pink haired assassin casually struck Happy from the air with another magical slash that actually drew a line of blood across his wings and back. Happy had never been afraid of heights, but now as he fell, his panicked mind found falling to be utterly terrifying. Then all of a sudden someone caught him.

"DIG THROUGH THE DITCHES AND BURN THROUGH THE WITCHES, I SLAM IN THE BACK OF MY DRAGULA!"

12:00 AM, Magic Council Headquarters

The building shook and the Council's meeting circle was suddenly under a rain of debris as stone started to crumble and collapse. Ultear staggered and then swiftly waved her hand, "Restore!" The stone all stopped midair and hurled itself back into place. "The entire base of the building's been compromised!" she shouted, "We need to get outside before the whole place goes!"

Then it was a mad rush down the stairs and out the door as the building started to shake again. Then without a shred of warning, black flames flooded the hallway in front of them. The searing heat slapped them like a wall of pain, but that was nothing on the screams of pain that could be faintly heard over the roar of the fire.

The flames lasted only a minute, and then the hallway was clear again, just in time for a young man with blonde hair to go sprinting down it and running right past the horrified councilmembers. They blinked in shock and then the young man jogged backwards back into view to look at them in surprise. He pulled out a stack of papers and looked at them, looked at the council, back at the papers, and then he bunched them up in one hand as the other shot out to dramatically point at them, "FOUND YOU! FLAME GOD…"

"ICE MAKE WALL!" "BELLOOOOOOW!" Ice and fire collided as the council turned tail and bolted back the way they had came. It wasn't until a moment later that Yajima shouted, "Where's Ultear?!"

"ICE MAKE ROSEN KRONE!" Ultear suddenly appeared behind them riding on massive animate thorn vines made of ice, "GO! I'LL KEEP HIM BUSY!"

"I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!" the blonde man shouted from down the hallway, "FIRE GOD'S SCYTHE!" A massive blade of black flames suddenly swung through the walls and ceiling, leaving those absurdly hot flames and melting stone in its wake as it turned Ultear's ice roses to blistering steam.

Ultear only narrowly managed to jump over the blade as steam filled the hallway, "GO!"

Councilman Michelo spared her a glance before nodding, "Let's go!"

The others shot him looks of horror and outrage. "Are you seriously suggesting we leave her to that maniac?!" Org demanded.

"Do you seriously think he's here alone?!" Michelo shot back over his shoulder as he hightailed it down the hall away from the magical brawl that was rapidly destroying the building as Ultear led the black flame wizard away, "Ultear's at least as strong as Siegrain! She can handle herself, but most people aren't that strong!"

Belno scowled, "You're just trying to save your own skin…" Then she shot past him, snatching him up in the process, "But in this case you're probably right! COME ON!" The others shot one final look at the boiling cloud of steam hiding Ultear and her opponent from view and then hurried after them.

A moment later as they followed the trail of carnage the fire wizard had left through the building, they found his friends as they burst into the Etherion control center and found it bustling with activity. "WHY ARE THEY PREPARING THE ETHERION TO FIRE?!" Michelo shouted.

"Ah, just the people I wanted to see," a voice drawled from next to the door they had just come through. "Kneel." Half the remaining councilmembers suddenly found their knees giving out beneath them. Only Org, Belno and Mr. Yajima were able to keep their feet, and they were shaking as they fought to stand.

"This is…Human Enslavement Magic?!" Org exclaimed in horror as the calm actions of the toad workers suddenly made sense.

"It is indeed!" The wizard controlling the toad workers declared proudly as he stepped forward, revealing himself to be covered in white fur and have the head of a goat, "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Caprico of Grimoire Heart's Seven Kin of Purgatory. We are here to borrow your Etherion for a brief little ritual and then kill you all."

"You're behind the R-System?" Belno demanded.

"And my comrade is behind you," Caprico replied cheerfully.

Belno looked over her shoulder and saw a man in a ski jacket with a silver pompadour and sunglasses, "This club comes from a piece of bodock, it's sole intended purpose is your head to knock!" WHAP! WHAM! THUD! Belno and Org were suddenly slammed to the floor by a piece of wood the size of a horse's leg that felt like it was made iron. Then the silver haired man spoke, "Oh my, it appears your magic cannot fell this old man Caprico! What a will of iron he must have to resist this much!"

Yajima shot him a death glare from between the two halves of the club he'd just sheared through by turning his entire body into a perfectly two dimensional plane. It had taken all his strength to use magic while maintaining his feet, now it was all he could do to stand, but still he ground out, "Fairy… Tail…"

"Ah, that explains it," the silver haired man mused, "Truly the unquenchable spirit of the wizards from Fiore's greatest wild card knows no bounds. The fires of such a rebellious spirit burn bright even in the face of imminent doom."

"Don't give them all the credit," Chairman Seam drawled, drawing the silver haired man and Caprico's attention just in time for the floor to light up beneath them. BOOM! The two glowing Archive screens the Chairman had manifested beneath their feet exploded, sending both of them flying and breaking the hold of Caprico's Human Enslavement Magic.

"The rest of us aren't exactly slouches either!" Chairman Seam declared as he hefted his massive form to his feet and grinned viciously, "That magic of yours is pretty nasty, Caprico was it? Too bad for you, my Super Archive can override any mental magic! You want the Etherion?" A dozen glowing screens suddenly appeared around the Chairman as another lifted him off the ground, "COME AND TAKE IT!" The screens glowed brightly and then unleashed beams of light that the goat faced wizard only narrowly managed to flip out of the way of.

Meanwhile the toad workers were piloting their hovering workstations to the balconies and fleeing as fast as they could. The silver haired wizard suddenly found himself faced with an entire board of extremely irate magic councilmembers, Belno and Org in particular were utterly incandescent with fury.

Org's face was ominously lit by the lightning crackling around him. Belno was much less patient. "IRON MAKE MACHINE GUN!" she snapped as her hands glowed green and a massive multi barreled gun appeared in her hands. She didn't give the silver haired wizard even an instant to recover, immediately strangling the trigger and unloading a hailstorm of fire and bullets.

She snarled as she saw her bullets ricocheting away, effortlessly bounced away by an immense golden shield as the silver haired wizard called, "That which dwells in my left hand is a golden shield that pushes back everything, and from the depths of the underworld this blade cuts through everything with a deep black blade!" A massive tentacle tipped with vicious points suddenly erupted skyward over his shield, arcing over his shield and shooting towards Belno like a javelin.

Belno didn't even flinch as she sidestepped and Org discharged a lightning bolt into the tentacle. The silver haired wizard yelped and Councilman Hogg snatched the tentacle before it could disappear, snatching with all his immense strength and flinging the silver haired wizard into the air, Belno's line of fire easily following him as he was hurled out from behind his shield. Then the silver haired wizard took off on a streak of white, "And upon the wings of the Pegasus I take to the air! Hahaha-HRK!"

His laugh was cut short as Mr. Yajima swung a hand and a blade of magical energy shot into his gut. The silver haired magician fell from the air, his shield and the white feathers on his boots disappearing as his focus was shattered by the sudden pain. Before Belno could riddle him with holes though, Caprico shot across the room and snatched the silver haired wizard from the air, "Get your act together Rusty!"

"Rustyrose you insufferable goat faced heathen," the now named Rustyrose groaned before raising his hand as Caprico clung to the wall like a lizard, "He comes forth from the lightning and his voice shakes the ground! Arise Sacred Guardian Beast, Belcusa the Thunderclap!"

A flash and boom later, a massive beast that looked like all the worst bits of a flayed man, a demon and a convoluted stone carving erupted into existence, roaring its challenge to the Council.

Said beast lasted all of five seconds as Mr. Yajima's hand blurred and a hurricane of magical blades shot forth, rending the massive magical construct to ribbons in an instant. Grimoire Heart and Magic Council alike stared in shock as Mr. Yajima straightened his hat with a crooked grin, "Oh yeah, I've still got it."

Chairman Seam and Org took this opportunity to blast the flabbergasted dark wizards with a volley of lasers and lightning bolts that sent them both flying. The instant they hit the ground, Belno had them wrapped in chains and bound to the ground. Just that quick, it was over.

Chairman Seam descended to the ground and stepped off, stroking his beard with one immense paw as he mused, "Aren't the Seven Kin of Purgatory supposed to be Grimoire Heart's strongest?"

"Perhaps we've been overestimating them if that's all they've got," Org mused.

Then a voice echoed from all around them, "I agree, Rustyrose and Caprico are indeed the weakest of the Seven."

Then the roof was ripped off and the floor suddenly erupted in vines. The council was immediately snared, bound and lifted high into the air, all the way up to the roof to ensure that even if they broke free they would fall to their deaths. Atop the wall where the now discarded roof had sat was a man in green and brown with dark skin and hair that looked like splintered bark. "Allow me to introduce myself," the man declared, "I am Azuma, the strongest of the Seven. I believe you will find defeating me to be a bit more of a challenge."

A cloud of mist suddenly appeared on the top of the wall a little ways away and quickly coalesced into a masked figure clad in a dark cloak with a number of staves on his back and another in his hand, "I suppose that makes my timing rather lucky then doesn't it?"

Azuma turned to face the newcomer, "And who are you?"

The shadowy figure's eyes glowed with hatred and rage as he reached for his mask, "Allow me to introduce myself…"

The mask flew away and Azuma's eyes went wide in shock, "JELLAL?!"

"My name is Mystogan," the Jellal-look-a-like declared coldly as the Councilmembers gaped at him in shock, "But just for today, since I hear my brother's fresh out of hostages to force my silence, you can call me Siegrain."

12:02, The Tower's Sakura Garden

Dimaria looked like a demon straight out of hell, her eyes were blazing and flames licked through her hair like a crown of fire as she glared with absolute fury at the pink haired assassin who actually stepped back in surprise at the sudden hurricane of magical power emanating from her.

"DO IT BABY! DO IT BABY!"

"THIS ENDS NOW!" Dimaria shouted, "FIRESTORM DRAGON ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!" The ensuing maelstrom of white hot flames was above and beyond anything Natsu had ever started as it engulfed the bridge and bathed the whole room in a tsunami of blistering heat. Dimaria emptied every shred of the insane blazing power she had taken from the firestorm and then added everything she could to it just to be sure it would stick.

Even still, the pink haired assassin managed to dodge, only to suddenly be caught midair falling in slow motion, turning just barely fast enough to discover to her absolute horror that even if it was a bigger fire than Natsu had ever started, that didn't mean it was too big for him to eat.

"Now burn like an animaaal…"

Natsu's eyes looked like they had been replaced with miniature suns as he inhaled the massive firestorm in one gargantuan gulp and then in an attack that actually somehow dwarfed the intensity of the blaze a moment before… "FIRE DRAGOOON ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!" The flames raged for almost a full minute, roaring like thunder and bathing the room in blinding light as though the sun itself had popped in for a visit.

"DIG THROUGH THE DITCHES AND BURN THROUGH THE WITCHES I SLAM IN THE BACK OF MY DRAGULAAAAA!"

Whether or not there was even anything left of the pink haired assassin when the raging river of flames stopped may never be known, but what is certain is that the wall on the other side of her was completely obliterated. A hundred foot wide hole clear out the side of the tower was left smoldering in its wake as everything in the surrounding rooms ignited from the heat.

Dimaria stood for a moment with Happy, staring at the space where the pink haired assassin had been and the giant blazing hole now merrily burning away the tower around it. A small smile flicked across her face, "Huh, that was cool…" Then her knees gave out.

She stopped halfway to the ground as Lucy appeared to catch her, "Don't worry, I gotcha."

"Thanks," Dimaria muttered blearily, suddenly acutely aware that all the power she'd poured into that one last attack had been power that was pointedly not healing her massive wounds. Suddenly a cool sensation flowed across her torso and she cracked her eyes to see Lucy's hand wreathed in a chilly bluish white aura pressed over her wounds. She blinked, "You're catching on, really quickly…"

Lucy nodded, "Yeah, I've never used Caster magic before, but this lacrima's responding pretty well so far."

Dimaria smiled weakly, "Lord Boreas was the nice one…Lord Notus was grumpy…"

"I thought you said you never met them," Lucy mused as she pulled Dimaria's arm up over her shoulder, "Come on, let's try to get out of here. Can you walk?" Without waiting for an answer, she looked up at the bridge, "Hey Natsu! Get down here! Dimaria's hurt and so's Happy!"

Natsu suddenly appeared at the rail, "When did you get down there?!" He vaulted the rail and landed, hurrying over to crouch down, "Here, I'll carry you."

"I can…walk…" Dimaria forced out as she took an unsteady step and nearly fell, only for Natsu and Lucy to catch her.

"Uh-huh, sure you can," Lucy replied dryly, "And Happy and I are gonna switch hair colors any second now."

"Ha…ha…" Dimaria grumbled a little sourly as Lucy and Natsu got an arm each over their shoulders.

Lucy inhaled and a blur of white later there was a mound of snow leading back up to the bridge, "Up we go!"

It wasn't until a few minutes later that she mused, "So, if you ate Natsu's breath attack, and he ate yours, is that like the Dragon Slayer version of swapping spit?"

Natsu turned and started to complain about Lucy making it weird and gross, but then Dimaria raised her hand to Lucy's jaw, pushed it over towards her and kissed Lucy full on the mouth. Lucy blushed as pink as Natsu's hair as Natsu and Happy's jaws dropped. Dimaria smirked lightly at Lucy's utterly stunned expression, "There. Now I've kissed both of you, so don't get jealous."

Right about then they were teleported upstairs.

Meanwhile, Magic Council Headquarters

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The staff in Mytogan's hand whirled and he shot forward, jabbing with it like a spear as its sharp fan shaped head spun like a drill bit before erupting in light as Azuma dodged to the side and exploding, sending the dark wizard flying. Azuma didn't fly far as a massive tree sprang into existence just in time to catch him. Azuma sprang back unhindered and torqued a roundhouse kick into Mystogan, only for his leg to impact Mystogan's staff, which glowed and transformed into a large scythe.

Mystogan whirled his staff and flung Azuma's leg high over their heads, forcing Azuma to land on his hands, off guard and completely vulnerable to Mystogan's follow-up slash as his scythe became a massive two handed sword. Azuma only avoided being cut in half by dropping into the vine like it was water, and he popped back out a moment later, surging out of the bark to deliver a massive uppercut to Mystogan's jaw.

Mystogan should've been sent flying, but instead his entire head dissolved in a puff of mist and Azuma had to spring back as Mystogan reversed his grip on his sword, still apparently headless as he thrust at Azuma's torso. The sword missed Azuma by a hair's breadth and was revealed to be an illusion as Mystogan appeared behind him, the haft of his scythe slamming into Azuma's head and batting him off the vine with the immense momentum that huge blade built up.

Once again Azuma landed on a tree that erupted into being for the soul purpose of catching him, but this time rather than simply land on it, he dropped into the wood like water and reappeared again, this time surging out of the ground behind Mystogan as he roared, "BLEVE!" A sizeable explosion erupted from his hand and engulfed Mystogan, the Fairy Tail wizard disappearing in the flames.

Azuma materialized fully and narrowed his eyes at the spot where Mystogan had been, then he threw out a much larger explosion behind him, "Stop playing around! Your strength is admirable but these games will not win you this battle!"

"What makes you think I'm playing?" Mystogan asked calmly from just outside of the first explosion's reach as he reappeared in another coalescing of mist, "Two Layer Magic Circle, Drought."

Azuma's eyes widened in horror as two magical circles stacked on top of each other erupted around Mystogan, suddenly unleashing a wall of heat that boiled all the wood it came into contact dry, unleashing a massive cloud of steam as the wood withered in a rapidly advancing wave that Azuma had to fling himself off the building to dodge. Azuma caught himself on another tree that he grew out of the side of the building, noting how all of his plants within a fifty meter radius had been instantly reduced to kindling, including the ones holding Magic Council members who were now floating down to the ground atop one of Chairman Seam's Archive Screens.

Azuma grit his teeth feeling quite torn. The mission was rapidly falling apart, but apparently Mystogan was still just playing with him, which meant he had to be absurdly strong. The big grin that spread across his face made it quite obvious the instant Azuma decided Screw the mission, this is more fun.

"Your use of your staves is quite admirable," Azuma called as his tree lifted him closer, "You have truly attained quite a level of mastery with them! Now that the Council is out of the way, will you show me your true strength? I do not believe for an instant that the magic of your Sea Fin Scythe, Desert Skull Stave and Windcatcher are the extent of your power!"

"You are correct," Mystogan replied with a small smile, "I have a Mind's Eye Scepter and a Grand Witching Prongs as well. Speaking of which," he pointed upwards as Azuma's expression fell into confusion, "Skyscraper."

Azuma didn't look up until the ground exploded beneath him and hurled him skyward. Irrational terror suddenly besieged his mind as he flew higher, higher, higher until a glance over his shoulder provided him with a view of the world's full circle. He hung there for a brief second before black tendrils erupted from nothing and began to bind him. Azuma struggled against them, the terror increasing every second and then growing exponentially as a massive hole erupted in the darkness, "WHAT MANNER OF MAGIC IS THIS?!"

Then something stirred in the darkness and Azuma froze, the unmistakable feeling of being hopelessly outmatched overwhelming him and triggering a primal instinct to hold still and pray the danger would pass. His hopes were dashed a moment later as the darkness erupted in the shape of a demon larger than anything he'd ever seen, covered in green scales with massive teeth and a form that was a mockery of a giant's. Horns and eyes and a slimy tongue a mile long drove Azuma to panic as a hand the size of a mountain's base reached out to snatch him. Knowing that nothing less than the strongest attack he had would stop this monstrosity, Azuma bellowed in terror, "TERRA CLAMARE!"

The ensuing explosion shattered the illusion and nearly destroyed what was left of the Magic Council's Headquarters, but Azuma didn't care. As the terror faded and he realized it had been an illusion, his face twisted into an expression of absolute outrage. His eyes snapped up in a glare and he roared, "DO YOU TAKE ME FOR A FOOL?!"

"Nope. Five Layer Magic Circle, Sacred Song."

Azuma's eyes went wide as he realized he was standing directly under a stack of massive magic circles which were now shining a pillar of light down around him, "Oh…" BOOM! If Azuma hadn't been so rattled by the illusion a moment before, or maybe if he'd had a bit more magic power on tap, he would've been able to muster enough vines to block the attack. Instead, the focused eruption of magic power that slammed him through the tree he was standing on over fifty feet to the ground pummeled him with the force of an avalanche, searing and scratching and freezing all at once as his mind fought to retain his grip on consciousness.

A lesser foe would've been taken out immediately, but Azuma actually managed to force himself back to his feet. He was bruised, bleeding and slightly unsteady on his feet, but he was still grinning like he was having the time of his life as Mystogan reappeared before him. "Truly impressive!" Azuma declared as he wiped some of the blood from his chin, "To think that you would be able to drive me this far with nothing but common Holder Magic! You haven't even begun to fight yet have you? Truly you are a foe like no other Mystogan of Fairy Tail!"

Mystogan smiled at the praise, "Actually believe it or not, I'm a Holder Type. I haven't actually got a shred of magic of my own. If I did I'd have used it by now. You're not the type of man I can afford to hold back against, Azuma of the Seven Kin."

Azuma laughed even though doing so clearly hurt him, "Surely you jest! But I shall take no offense, clearly I must grow stronger so that when next we face each other I will be able to bear witness to your full strength! For now though, my mission has failed and I must retrieve my comrades." He forced himself upright, "So allow me to leave you with this parting gift! Farewell!" He threw his hands wide, "TERRA…" He slammed them together as though in prayer, "CLAMARE!"

"Three Layer Magic Circle: Mirror Water," Mystogan replied, and as Azuma's eyes went wide in horror, his massive attack promptly switched positions from beneath Mystogan's feet, to beneath his own.

Azuma's face was a portrait of pure shock, and then it twitched into a weary grin right before the explosion erupted beneath him, "Truly I have much to learn." BOOOOOOOOOOM!

As Mystogan watched Azuma's charred, battered and thoroughly unconscious form fall to the ground a minute later, he wondered aloud, "Why does everyone always have such a hard time believing I'm a Holder Type?" He smiled faintly as he tied his mask back on, "Honestly Azuma I hope you don't get any stronger, that was actually really really hard!"

12:00 AM, Top of the Tower

Erza jumped slightly as the pitch black void erupted through the wall. Jellal didn't even have time to try to move before the void slammed into him and dragged him across the room to slam his head into the wall in a blur of motion with such force that the wall cracked. Jellal tried to activate his Meteor spell, but the light was immediately drawn into the void where it was holding him. As if spurred on by the sudden influx of power, the void took off like a shot around the perimeter of the room. Erza wasn't sure how many times the void shot around the room with Jellal's body trailing along the surface of the wall like a streamer.

Jellal tried to put his hands out to stop his face first skid across the surface of the wall and the void suddenly stopped and hurled him across the room. Jellal's Meteor finally activated, but the void was on top of him again in an instant, savagely driving into his gut and doubling him up before twisting and slamming him into the ground with his Meteor extinguished. The void shrank slightly and caught Jellal by the back of the head, raising him up and slamming his face into the ground with an explosion of light from just above where it was holding Jellal. As Jellal's face slammed into the floor without a single shred of magic to reinforce it, Erza realized what, or rather who the void was.

"JERRY IS THAT YOU?!" Erza shouted, but I didn't answer. I snatched his head back up from the floor and saw that most of his face had been reduced to a bloody wreck. The entire left side of his face had been ground away. That looked kind of like it might be the corner of his eye socket poking out. His nose was a mashed in mess and he had numerous scrapes and cuts from being rocket slammed into the floor. I gave him another blast powered punch in the teeth anyway. Then two more for good measure.

I portal tripped him as he was staggering back and put a blast powered pile driver into his face. I also summoned a portal to the top of his damn throne under his back right before I slammed his head down. Since I'd already caught his foot in a portal, I was rewarded with a piercing crack and my punching bag cried out in pain. He started to go limp and I snarled, "No, you don't get to pass out."

One burst of reverse-Sleep magic and he was wide awake for the continuation of what I was hell bent on making his execution. I grabbed him by the shoulders and hurled him across the room to slam into his throne. A thrice be damned throne, WHO DID THIS PIECE OF SHIT THINK HE WAS?! I shot across the room on a blast and drove my fist home with enough power to pulp his innards, which made it even more frustrating that he managed to throw himself out of the way as his throne broke into countless pieces. In retrospect I'm sure he used magic, but at the time my only thought was: Must've missed his spine. I'll have to fix that.

"Wha ah 'ou 'oin?!" Gore-face slurred through a mouth full of shattered teeth and blood as he scrambled back, "'Oo ah ou?!"

"My name is Gerard Sieg Granger. The friends I don't deserve call me Jerry," I let Blackout Mode fade from around my head, "I'm the you that didn't save her."

His still functioning eye went wide as he saw my face, only different from his in that mine was still intact, "'Uh a 'ell?!"

In retrospect, given that he blasted me out of the train car almost as soon as he walked in, I suppose he hadn't really had time to get a good look at me in our earlier encounter before I got slammed into a cliff and three miles of dirt face first. The wounds had stopped bleeding and I'd gotten the blood and dirt off now, so now he could get the full effect of having someone who looked exactly like him hell bent on killing him.

But rather than give it time to sink in and possibly let him think of a way to fight back, I teleported and drove a blast powered stomp into the floor that he only narrowly managed to roll out of the way of. I glared at him and knelt, snatching him by the collar and draining his fledgling flight spell to nothing before sending him flying the painful way with another blast powered punch to the jaw. There would be no fighting back, there would be no room for thoughts that might get him out of this, and even on the very slim chance he somehow survived this, there would for damn sure be no more looking like me when I was done with him!

"So now we are presented with a veeery rare and unique opportunity!" I snarled before shooting forward to punt him the rest of the way across the room into the wall, "I get to beat myself up and work through some of the soul crushing self-loathing I've had ever since the day I saw her die…" A teleport and a full body uppercut drove him into the ceiling before gravity could peel him off the wall, "because I was too much of a GODDAMN COWARD to draw that bastard's attention," he bounced off the ceiling and started to fall, "and too much of a little FUCKING PRIIICK!" I roared as I drove him into the ground again, "to invite her over to play that afternoon!"

The floor cracked and blood flew, but I didn't care. I grabbed him by his feet, spun and slammed him face first into the wall like a bat as hard as I could before adjusting my grip to hurl him across the room again. "I went through the woods to invite her over to play because Simon and Milly and Katie and Wally and Ricky and Joey ALL agreed that I had been too mean that day," I ranted as I stormed across the room to the barely twitching form of my punching bag. I grabbed him by lapel and pulled what was left of his face up to mine, "And what do you think I saw when I made it to the hedge?"

"Uh?" He mumbled.

"HER OWN FUCKING DAD WITH A GUN TO HER BACK!" I roared as I slammed my fist into his face with every shred of fury and muscle I could muster. I twisted and hurled him off the wall, "I COULD'VE SAID SOMETHING! I COULD'VE SHOUTED! I COULD'VE GIVEN HER A CHANCE TO RUN! SHE WAS IN TEARS YOU SON OF A BITCH!" As he was about to regain his balance, I drove another full body uppercut into his jaw hard enough to pick his feet up well over a foot off the ground.

"SHE DIED BECAUSE I WAS TOO MUCH OF A GODDAMNED COWARD TO YELL AT HIM! ONE WORD AND I COULD'VE SAVED HER! IT MIGHT'VE GOTTEN ME KILLED, BUT I'D RATHER BE DEAD THAN HEAR HER CRYING FOR HIM TO STOP AND LET HER GO EVERY TIME I THINK ABOUT HER!" I thundered as he fell to the ground and caught another full body right hook to his gut that flung him across the room.

"That worthless bastard went back inside afterwards, and I ran to get her out of there," I panted, "I picked her up, and tried to get her through the woods to someone who could help, anyone who could help…" I strode across the room trembling with fury as I caught him by the throat, "Do you know what her last words were? Can your wretched black LUMP of a heart even begin to imagine, what that sweet, innocent little girl said to me as I lugged her across the woods while she was steadily bleeding out?"

There was no response, and the way his functioning eye was half lidded and looking kind of out of focus I wasn't sure he could even understand me, but I didn't care. I was almost blind with fury at this point as I hissed, "She thanked her Prince Charming for saving her."

The amazingly unbloodied and un-blackened eye widened in horror and a hateful grimace twisted my features as I furiously wheezed, "I see you understand exactly what I'm talking about! So I'm sure you understand…" I hauled back and drove my fist into his face again as I bellowed, "WHY I'M NOT LETTING YOU HARM ONE SINGLE HAIR ON HER HEAD!"

"OF ALL THE CRUEL IRONIES I CAN THINK OF…" I roared as I hurled him halfway across the room again, "I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING MORE OFFENSIVE THAN TO BE CONFRONTED WITH A ME, WHO MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE, WHO ACTUALLY EARNED THAT LITTLE GIRL'S AFFECTION AND SAVED HER, AND THEN THREW IT AWAY!"

He got the full rocket punch this time. I jumped and blasted myself into him like the meteor he'd thrown at me earlier, driving my fist into him with everything I had. Then I hit him again. Then again and again and again until my shoulders started to ache from repetition. As his bones started to cave beneath my fists, my rage and regret shook me like a leaf in a gale. With my chest too tight for me draw anything like a proper breath I panted, "You have no idea… no idea how much I hate myself… how much I've hated myself every damn minute since then… and YOU… YOU are everything I hate, about me, times ten! So I'm sorry, but you really, REALLY have to go. But don't worry," I grinned with weary savageness and not even caring that he wasn't even twitching anymore, "we'll do this again one day…"

I pulled back for the blow that would splatter his skull like an egg and looked him square in the glazed over, bloody and out of focus eye, "When I see you in Hell…"

I paused as I felt someone grab my bicep and fist before I could end it, then Erza said quietly, "Don't."

"Why not?" I asked in a voice as emotionally dead as I felt.

Erza was quiet for a moment, "Do you really think she'd want you to?"

I let my fist uncurl and my arm untensed, but Erza held onto my hand anyway. Then she drew my eye by guiding my hand to her face, and I saw she was giving me the softest most forgiving smile I'd ever seen, "I'm right here."

The tears started leaking out then as all the fear and rage and pain caught up to me. I couldn't have the massive breakdown I wanted to have right then, I was too exhausted to even do that, but that didn't stop the waterworks as I forced myself to stand up off what was left of my doppelganger. I staggered slightly and Erza caught me. I wanted to just fall to my knees and have a good cry, but, "We should go find the others…Blow this place to smithereens…Evacuated everyone but the team when I arrived…Simon and Katie and Milly and Joe and Risley are alright. Sent the evacuees to them. Oh…one more thing before we go…hope there's enough left…"

"Left?" Erza asked curiously as I stepped back, "Left of what?"

"Brain," I answered simply as I stretched my hand towards my doppelganger. Bars popped into existence around me and quickly started fading from gold to blue as all the information on magic in my doppelganger's thoroughly concussed head started downloading into mine. I took a deep breath, the flood of knowledge had somewhat buried my emotions and a quick burst of my own calming magic was able to stabilize my thoughts from the completely incoherent hurricane of screaming emotions they had been since I'd realized who Erza was.

One more deep breath and I was okay again. I looked at Erza feeling still very tired, "After we finish demolishing this place, I'd like to find somewhere quiet and just hold onto you and maybe cry my eyes out for a bit. I apologize if that sounds weird but, oh…" she suddenly wrapped me in a hug.

"It's not weird at all," Erza told me quietly, "If it is, then I'm weird too because I feel the same way."

I nodded and hugged her back, "Then we'll do that sometime." I might've had part of a handle on it right then, but there was a lot of healing that still needed to happen between me and her and I was certain she felt the same. We'd probably never get the chance with each others' respective counterparts, but I couldn't help hoping that maybe we didn't need to.

I nodded and hugged her a little tighter before stepping back, "Hang on a second, I'll get the others and then we can blast this place to oblivion." I stepped back slightly, snapped my fingers and all six of our friends were suddenly right in front of us and my brain kicked over from emotionally dead exhaustion to absolute alarm, "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU THREE?!"

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NEXT TIME on Mad Little Slice of Heaven...

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"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE GUILD HALL?!"