Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail
Breakout Part 2
Edmond, Natsu, Happy, and Lucy were now making their way out of Ginville now that they had handed over Erigor's goons. Thankfully, for his own sake, Edmond was right in that there was no Rune Knight station in Ginville given how relatively small it was, and it's distance from other much more populous towns. Instead the Militia and Guard were all supplied by the city and as such they did have a Jail. Albeit, a small one.
"There's no way we can hold all of Erigor's cronies in that place." Edmond lamented. Lucy merely nodded along, wondering just how difficult it would be to literally drag all of the bandits back to a proper Rune Knight station.
"We'll get em to the Rune Knights some way. For now we need to focus on beating Erigor and freeing your friend!" Natsu declared confidently, Edmond nodding along with that sentiment. Lucy groaned a bit in concern considering they had yet to encounter Erigor and had trouble just with two of his new goons.
"Were there any other people that Erigor had that were that tough?" Lucy asked curiously, facing Edmond with a worrying glance. He hummed as he thought back to his fights with Erigor's band of misfits, but couldn't think of any other notable mages off the top of his map.
"I can't really think of anyone in particular. At least, not from my memory, other than those two we just fought." Edmond said, a hand to his chin in thought. Lucy looked back ahead of them, slight concern in her voice. They continued onwards, a dirt path directing them further into the forest. It was an old path that led to an abandoned town somewhere in the forest, but it used to be watched over by an old fortress, the most likely location of Erigor's base. So they went on with some idle conversation to take them through the forest, with Edmond asking questions about the guild, and what kinds of members were there. He knew the answers, but asked just to seem curious and more authentic, as well as to see if anything was notably different about this Fairy tail from canon if anything.
Thankfully nothing was out of the ordinary if everything Natsu and Lucy had answered were true. Mirajane and Elfman were still the only Strauss siblings they would mention, team shadow gear did still consist of Levy, Jet, and Droy, and Makarov was still the master of the guild. Edmond breathed a mental sigh of relief, glad to know nothing about the guild seemed to be different from what he remembered.
"So once you get your buddy out of there what are you gonna do?" Natsu asked curiously, his hands behind his head as they walked through the forest, which seemed much thicker than what they had walked through on their way to Ginville. Edmond thought about that, and while he already knew what 'he wanted', he wasn't sure what Harry would want.
"I'm not sure to be honest. I guess we just stay in Ginville for a while at least. I'm sure though if we wanted to move on once we dealt with Erigor the mayor wouldn't mind." Natsu hummed, closing his eyes as he thought. Happy though seemed to get an idea in his head and turned around in the air to face Edmond.
"Hey Eddy! Why don't you join Fairy Tail?" Happy offered suddenly, Edmond looked at him with slightly wider eyes, not really expecting the sudden offer. Natsu slammed his fist into his hand and turned around to face Edmond with a winning smile.
"Yea! You're a pretty good wizard, plus your buddy can join too since he's a wizard as well. You guys would do great in Fairy Tail!" Natsu supported the idea openly, making Edmond look between the blue cat and dragon slayer, a slightly conflicted expression on his face. As much as I'd love to join, if Harry doesn't want to, then I might not either… I mean, he doesn't know half the things I do about Fairy Tail, I don't want to just leave him out to dry. Edmond thought, slightly sad at the thought that Harry might not want to join.
"Guys you're overwhelming him. I mean, we only met him yesterday!" Lucy exclaimed slightly, a bit alarmed they would offer to let Edmond join them so easily.
"What's wrong with that? We only knew you for a day before you joined the guild." Natsu said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and Lucy, realizing her hypocrisy, shrunk a bit. Edmond laughed a bit and scratched his cheek nervously.
"Well, I don't want to make a definite decision yet. But if it's possible… I would actually love to join Fairy Tail." Edmond said earnestly, earning an encouraging smile from Natsu and Happy. Lucy sighed a bit, somewhat relieved that Edmond wasn't as impulsive as her fire-using companion. They continued onwards in comfortable silence, coming across an old stone bridge crossing a medium sized river. The stone had a generous amount of green growing on it and evidence of erosion damage, but otherwise appeared rather sturdy for it's age.
"How much further we got?" Natsu asked with some annoyance, Happy circling overhead to get a better view around them
"Well, I'm not sure how far we've been, but the guard station said it was at least ten miles." Lucy said with a groan, lamenting the distance. Edmond only nodded along with her discontent.
"Natsu! Guys!" Happy suddenly exclaimed flying down to meet them, a somewhat surprised expression on his face. "There are people coming towards us! A bunch of people!" Natsu grinned happily, while Lucy and Edmond both only sighed a bit.
"We should stay here then, we can use this bridge as a choke point." Lucy suggested, receiving a nod from both men.
"Sounds good to me! Either way, they won't know what hit them!" Natsu said confidently, his right fist lighting in flame. Edmond stretched a bit, preparing for the upcoming fight, while Lucy prepared to summon one of her spirits.
"Oh? We won't, will we? Little flies…" A familiar voice cut through the air as the two Fairy Tail wizards, flying cat, and magic novice all looked up above them to see Erigor grinning at them evilly. To his sides, other mages began to float up as well, all thanks to Erigor's wind magic.
"So much for bottle-necking them." Lucy said a bit sadly, Edmond's face becoming graver as the bandits surrounded them in the air, all of whom had spells prepared to fire on them. Natsu seemed none too pulsed, as he winked at Happy, who saluted with an 'aye' and grabbed onto Natsu's shirt. Soon the dragon slayer was airborne thanks to Happy, his fists ignited, an excited grin on his face.
"Oh well, that just means this'll be a lot more fun." Natsu's confident statement was met with offended gazes from the mages around him, and exasperated ones from the mages below him.
Harry watched as the final overcharged Lacrima was placed in the pile they had made, making Harry cringe a bit at how carelessly they were piled up. Hopefully it wouldn't matter soon. He unstrapped himself from the glove, the lacrima he was using still slightly charged, but ignoring it. He opened up the crate that held the suit, looking at his creation with a sense of dread pride. Now that I'm was looking at it, it is a little intimidating due to it's dark color and pretty faceless visage. Harry thought to himself, looking over his creation.
"Mr. Harry? All of the lacrimas are ready." Madison said, looking at the suit with a mix of hope and trepidation. Harry nodded silently, walking up to the suit and pressing his hand against the chest piece, sighing as he made to take it off.
"Alright, help me suit up and we'll get out of here." Madison nodded as she helped disassemble the front section of the arms and legs, soon allowing Harry to step inside the frame securing himself to the wooden frame, fitting him snugly. Jake came over to help secure the plates to the frame by the fittings he had made beforehand, interlocking with the joints to make the whole thing move relatively as one. Although it was clear to Harry that it was probably even clunkier than what was in the movie. Harry couldn't help the fact he wasn't an educated engineer or super genius.
"That's everything." Harry affirmed, the kids looking at his suit, wondering if there was anything else to fix to the suit. "Now to see if this thing will let me move." Harry said with a small smirk. He reached up and clamped the front half of the helmet over him, everything in his vision, but two small windows of light were now covered in iron. He closed his eyes and focused on the gloves he had on, and the framing attached to him, pushing his magic out to 'feel' all of the enchantments he had made, every now and again he would lose focus and lose the feeling of one of the plates, or the central lacrima within. So instead he pushed out harshly with his magic, attempting to feel the armor all at once, and as the lacrima suited in the chest piece began to push magic into the suit, everything began to feel less like an attachment, and more like a part of his body.
"Good. It's working properly." Harry said with relief, moving his arms a bit to test how well he could move them. Madison, Jake, and now Sally all were looking at him with wide eyes, watching as the underside of the plates emitted a faint blue and gold glow, just visible in the low light of the warehouse. He stepped forward, his now metal footprint landing softly on the dirt floor. He strode forward and away, testing his movement and maneuverability. He wasn't impressed, but it would do. He thought about activating the thruster enchantments, but decided against it, if they activated at full blast then their cover would be blown and any smooth get away they might have been able to accomplish would have been thrown out the window.
"So does this mean we're ready?" Madison asked tentatively, and Harry was hesitant to answer, but nodded nonetheless.
"The detonator?" Harry asked simply, and Madison held up a small wooden plank with an indention, which was clearly red, covered in enchanted script. "Alright, once we're all ready, I'll arm it, and you can activate it once we're far enough away." Madison nodded hesitantly, holding the detonator tightly. Harry took to walking around in the suit, trying to get used to the decreased movement and mobility. There were other things he wanted to test, such as the thrusters, and the one and only combat ability that the suit had, but he couldn't test any of them, and Harry hoped that he wouldn't have to use the combat-focused addition.
Harry looked over to see the kids all putting on some enchanted gloves that he had made to help them grip onto the handles better. The last thing he wanted was them flying off due to shock, loss of strength, or whatever else. Once they were done, they all looked at Harry expectantly. He merely nodded before stomping over to the work table, and picking up the last semi-important piece of equipment. With it in hand he walked to Madison and handed it to her, her eyes wide as she looked at the wooden gun.
"I don't know what might happen between now and getting to Ginville, you three need some form of protection, just in case." Harry explained bluntly, Madison was hesitant, but took the weapon, a grim expression on her face. "I hope you don't have to use it, but it's better to have it and not need it-"
"Than need it and not have it." The voice that finished Harry's sentence was Sally's, looking up at the armored man with a small smile. "Dad used to say that a lot." She said, trying to remember her parents and the advice they gave them. Harry stood motionless, before nodding, Madison no longer having an expression of fear, but instead one of determination.
"Alright, all of you grab on." The kids complied as they held onto the handles on the outside of the suit, their glove's enchantments lighting up from the magic flowing through the suit, keeping them firmly gripped. Madison kept one hand off with the detonator, which was now glowing red, a signal it was armed. Sally and Jake were holding onto grips on the center of the suit with one hand, while their other hands were gripped onto handles on Harry's shoulders. Madison had plenty of room to put both of her hands on the center handle, but kept one hand free for the detonator. "Everyone ready?" Harry asked, anticipation in his voice. Madison nodded to her siblings, who nodded back, bracing themselves for the inevitable storm of action to come.
"We're ready." Madison said, determination in her voice. Harry focused, feeling the enchantments around him as they were supplied with power from the lacrima. There were several enchantments that weren't active due to how he worded them requiring him to actively turn them on and off. Four such enchantments were what would simulate boosters and help him fly out of there. Upon activating them, he found that he failed to make the boost gradual, and so all four enchantments activated at full power, orange light and fire erupting from his hands and feet. In the next moment, they were shooting upwards, the ceiling too rickety and old to withstand the force of Harry's armor going through it. Within a mere ten seconds, they were airborne and quickly ascending. The bandits on the outside reacted relatively quickly, being able to turn to see the cause of the commotion, but unable to do anything about it. Harry mentally activated some smaller air-based thruster to help adjust him mid air to point in the (supposed) direction of Ginville.
Madison couldn't believe how fast they were going. One moment they were telling Harry they were ready, and the next, they were airborne, and free of the complex. The gloves were working wonders as well, as even with only one hand attached, she felt like her hand was nigh unmovable. Her Siblings were holding on for dear life, tucking their heads in and shutting their eyes tight. She couldn't blame them considering the winds whipping against their heads, but it was a shame they missed the wonderful view. She felt them begin to level out as she noticed some smaller glowing circles around the thigh area of the armor that seemed to be leveling them out. Which reminded her of her own assignment. She reached with her thumb despite the intense winds around her and found the small button on the detonator. She pressed it, the glow fading into nothing as the device seemed to lose it's magic power. She didn't drop it though, and waited.
"Madison!" Harry yelled, the wind whipping around them making it hard to understand him.
"I pressed it! Nothings happene-" Anything that she was about to say was stopped as the base behind them exploded, she saw it before she heard it. The warehouse erupted into a massive black and red fireball, easily twice as large as the warehouse was. The old fortress was nearly obliterated from the explosion and hidden by the smoke. Flaming debris were flying from the epicenter of the explosion, but she could only see so much though as when she finally heard the deafening roar, she felt the shockwave, the wind being knocked out her lungs. If it wasn't for the glove forcing her to hold on, she would have fallen off, the detonator falling from her grip evidence enough of that. Their ride was shaking now, Harry having clearly been affected by the explosion. It didn't last long though as he soon leveled back out, continuing their flight.
"Well, if that didn't get someone's attention, nothing will." Harry said quietly to himself, feeling Madison grip on with her second hand. He earnestly hoped that they weren't hit that bad by the shockwave. He was both surprised and scared about the power behind just five barrels of lacrimas. Although it was more like seven or so considering each lacrima was overcharged. Jesus. I Know I had rigged them to explode, but I really hope Lacrima are naturally very stable.
Edmond blocked a small bolt of lighting by moving his whip in it's path, the magical lighting much slower than the real deal. That didn't stop the small fireball from hitting his shoulder though, making him wince as his body was pivoted against his will. They had been fighting on the old bridge for a few minutes already, with the mages that followed Erigor losing nearly half of their members already, mostly thanks to a fire-breathing dragon slayer.
"C'mon! Is that all you got!?" Natsu asked cockily and aggressively, his flames still alight as three mages groaned not far from him, all on the ground with scorch marks on their clothes. Lucy was glaring at them, whip in hand, and Taurus ahead of her, ready to fight again. Erigor's cocky smile faltered a bit at the number of mages they had already taken out, but was still confident in his better mage's combat abilities. He was about to order a full assault, with himself as the head before everything stopped.
The first one to notice what was going on was Lucy, seeing a faint trail of fiery smoke ascending into the sky a mile or two from their position. She was about to point it out to the others before she saw the top of an explosion in the same area, right before being blasted with the shockwave and deafening sound of the explosion itself. The shockwave was little more than a small thud against her chest, but the sound left her ears ringing for a second or two, everyone had felt it as well, with Erigor ascending to see the source and his face turning into shock upon seeing the top of the smoke from the explosion.
"W-What was that!?" One mage from Erigor's side exclaimed, clearly unnerved by the power displayed.
"It sounded like it came from the base!" Another yelled with worry, fixing his gaze towards the direction of the explosion. That was before he was punched by a flaming fist.
"Harry?" Edmond asked more to himself than anyone, spotting several flaming debris flying out of the center of the explosion. "N-No. That's not… supposed to happen." He said,
"Don't just turn your back on us!" Natsu exclaimed, far less affected by the explosion than anyone else.
Erigor turned his attention back to Fairy Tail, a look of hate and rage overtaking his earlier cocky expression. "This idiocy is going to end now." he said to himself as he descended into combat range of the young wizards. "YOU!" he shouted at the Fairy Tail wizards, getting the attention of everyone in the vicinity. "You just can't keep your nose out of places it doesn't belong can you? Well I'm getting sick of your crap."
Edmond felt the wind become strong in the surrounding area as Erigor began to summon a tornado to fight the intruders alongside him.
"Don't forget I've beaten you once before Erigor, and I'll do it again if you keep putting innocent lives in danger." Natsu exclaimed, quite proud of himself. Erigor, of course, did not share natsu's viewpoints or enthusiasm.
"Trust me, salamander, I'm well aware of my past mistakes, but this time I'm not the one thats going to fall today." At this, Erigor began casting many different wind-based spells and Natsu began to fight back, his previous encounters with Erigor helping him to predict Erigor's attacks better. Happy helped keep him in the air as the two fought with the dark mage fiercely.
Edmond watched as the two more experienced wizards duked it out, and noticed Erigor's men slowly coming back to fight, as if seeing Erigor fighting encouraged them somehow. He knew that he would need to keep the other wizards out of the fight to help Natsu, so he reformed a weapon and challenged the closest bandit. Unfortunately for him, though, three of them decided that they wanted a piece of Edmond and they began to approach him quickly. Edmond summoned forth his sword, the blade a bit longer than what he would usually cast.
"Alright, Natsu can take Erigor, we can take these guys on, right Edmond?" Lucy asked, glazing over at him, but her eyes widened upon seeing the livid expression on Edmond's face.
"This is all their fault…" Edmond growled, before suddenly breaking into a full run at the charging bandits, shocking Lucy as he fearlessly swung, slicing at two of the bandits, knocking them away, their natural magical defenses keeping them from being cut deep. The third tried to hit the cosmic mage with a fist shrouded in a glowing green energy, but Edmond blocked it with the flat of his blade before using it's butt end to hit the opposing mage in the gut and knock him to the ground. Before the mage could retaliate, Edmond stabbed his sword into the man's arm, eliciting a cry of pain before he was rendered unconscious by the angry mage's shoe.
"Edmond?" Lucy asked in a worried tone. "Harry could be okay, he might have set the trap for after his escape." She offered with a gentle tone, trying to calm the mage down, which seemed to work as Edmond eyed the other bandits with a glare, but nearly as hateful as before.
"Screw this!" One mage shouted. "Everyone, get em!" He shouted, and all at once, the rest of the largely non-notable bandits rushed the two. Edmond was about to dissipate his sword, before the memories of the hammer earlier came to his mind. He smirked as he kept his sword in its solid form before throwing it at the incoming crowd. The sword began to wobble and shimmer as it's form began to loosen. Edmond stepped back a few feet before the sword impacted another mage's one sword who was merely going to swat the weapon out of the way. The cosmic sword worked as Edmond expected, exploding violently, but not as strongly as the hammer had.
"Nice one!" Natsu called, apparently having seen the explosion. Nearly five of the mages were now on the ground in various states of scorched and stunned, with the man who had attempted to swat the sword the worse for wear. They fell over all at once in the next moment. Edmond, Lucy and the other bandits stopped for a moment to process what had happened before the mages continued their charge, unchanged in their confidence.
Lucy glared hard, but couldn't help glancing over at the large smoke cloud that peaked just over the treeline. The occasional smoke stream indicated pieces of debris flying through the air and falling down in varying arcs. With the exception of one.
"Huh?" Lucy said aloud, noticing one of the smoke trails had not lost it's angle at all, and was in fact, leveling out, continuing it's path through the sky back from where they came from. The fact there was a small light at the back end of whatever the object was only made her more interested in it.
"What?" Edmond asked, preparing a spell, but seeing how Lucy seemed distracted. He looked to where she was gazing and noticed the trail of smoke himself. Could that be Harry? He asked himself, a growing feeling of hope in his chest. It seemed though that Natsu and Erigor noticed their gazes as well, and looked up, seeing the trail as well.
"The heck is that?" Natsu asked no one in particular.
"Is it a shooting star?" Happy asked, looking over Natsu's shoulder in the air. "It's kinda glowing like one." He indicated, referring to the small orange light seen at the back of the object. Erigor looked at the object in confusion, knowing it wasn't a piece of debris, but also not understanding what could go to such a height and survive an explosion like that. That's when realization hit him like a ton of bricks. The bastard probably isn't affected by his own magic! Or something of that sort… so it's gotta be him! Erigor exclaimed in his head, his face contorting into a scowl. He forgot natsu, the wind around him growing faster as a small vortex formed under his feet, his magic doing as he commanded it. Then he flew to the object like a shot, the resulting wind pressure blowing Natsu and Happy away by a few feet, the small blue cat struggling to keep himself straight.
"What the hell!?" Natsu exclaimed, looking up to Erigor with an angry expression. "Come back here and fight damn it! Don't run away!" He exclaimed, growing madder by the second.
"Natsu!" Lucy called, breaking the dragonslayer out of his shouting. "He's getting away! We'll handle these guys here!" She exclaimed pointing to the smoke trail that Erigor was heading towards. At that, Natsu sported a dangerous grin.
"Well in that case, I'll take you up on that offer." Natsu said, punching a flaming fist into his palm.
"Aye!" Happy said, determination in his eyes as he flew both himself and Natsu up to Erigor as quickly as he could.
Harry was still trying to ignore the raging winds around him as he flew himself and the kids to where he thought Ginville was. The previous fortress now long behind them, he was flying over what looked to be a river. He looked from left to right to spot any signifying landmarks, and while there was nothing recognizable, he did spot a small bridge quite a ways away with what appeared to be fires around it. He noticed an explosion happen that had a similar color to Edmond's magic. Wait… Edmond isn't here is he? Shit. He probably saw the explosion. He might be thinking the worst as well. I suppose it's too late now. I don't want to turn back yet, but based on the location of the bridge, where the fortress is, and where he came from, I'm going the right way. Harry surmised, quickly deducing he was most likely going in the correct direction of Ginville. As he was about to turn away from the bridge though, something caught his eye, something was getting closer, and it looked disturbingly similar to Erigor. Oh shit.
The Armored mage lurched on his side in the air, making his three passengers cry with worry. Harry fully faced Erigor as he surged at him, his scythe already in striking position. Harry brought up his arms from their positions at his sides to block, the scythe digging into the iron plate more than Harry was comfortable with. The strike knocked Harry off his intended trajectory, and was now headed straight to the ground. In a moment of desperation, he faced the ground again, and leveled out as much as he could, lowering the power from his thrusters before he collided with the dirt. He skidded along the ground for several dozen feet, leaving a long crater in the earth.
The crash landing was rough on all three of them, the three younger kids managing to pry themselves off of the armor slowly as Harry moved to stand. Once he was finally up and moving, he looked around only to be hit in the back by a force which he could only describe as 'intense'. He was knocked away, landing hardly onto the ground again, one again on his chest as a weight pressed down on his armored back. Harry could vaguely hear Madison and Jake call after him.
"I bet you thought it was funny huh? Blowing up my base and getting the better of ol' Erigor, huh fly?" Erigor asked with a hiss, a sharp blade tapping on the side of his helmet. "Well, we'll see who gets the last laugh." He said dangerously, raising his scythe above him, ready to strike the armored mage down, only for said mage to suddenly rocket forward, Erigor's feet coming out from underneath him as Harry activated his thrusters on the ground.
Harry stopped a short distance away and got up, this time in much more of a rush. He looked to where Erigor was to see the wind mage was striking at him with his scythe. Too slow to react, Harry's helmet took the brunt of the force, a large gash now showing on the upper temple of the neatly fitted helmet. Harry tried to raise his arms, but Erigor slashed at them next, the force behind each swing enough to keep them down for Erigor to strike at Harry's head again, this time cutting downwards.
"Hehe. Not so tough now, are you punk? Can't even get an attack in." Erigor teased, watching as Harry raised his armored arms to defend himself only for Erigor to cut at the forearms, leaving gashes in the iron plates with each one, the plates quickly losing strength, and some portions of them showing parts of the leather underneath. Then a blast went off, something that sounded somewhere between a raygun and a handgun, Erigor looking behind him at Madison, wielding the enchanted gun Harry had given her earlier.
"Get away from him." She said, with tears stinging her eyes. She shot again, the blast hitting Erigor's shoulder, but like the last one, he barely even flinched. She shot again, the arm, once again to no effect. Harry took advantage of the distraction and went for a grapple, only for Erigor to slam the butt of his scythe into Harry's helmeted head, the ringing sound being worse than any actual pain. Erigor approached Madison as she continued shooting. Harry followed with desperation in his movements, but a torrent of wind slammed into him, sending his armored form sprawling across the forested area.
"What was that? Little fly?" Erigor had not reacted one as she kept firing over and over, hopelessness filling her heart. Her siblings were behind her clinging onto her legs, unsure of what might happen, but unwilling to leave her. "So you'd like to fight me instead huh?" Madison couldn't bring herself to shoot anymore, awaiting the inevitable.
"Yea! I would!" And like that, Erigor's world seemed to explode as a flaming man came flying at him from the sky. "Our fight isn't over yet!" Natsu's scream only made Erigor's scowl grow as he used his magic to fly up, right as Natsu landing a punch that would have struck him, but making the dragon slayer hit the ground instead.
By the time Harry got up, he saw a pink-haired, seemingly crazed, flaming man slam into the ground Erigor was standing on, only for him to get up from the small crater he made completely unharmed. Wait… is there a cat with wings on his back? Harry asked himself, wondering if the strikes to his helmet had done more damage than he originally thought. The pink haired man glared at Erigor before looking at the three kids who were watching him with awe. Then he turned to Harry, his face had become a bit gentler when looking at the kids, but now his scowl returned in force.
"And who the hell are you?" Natsu asked dangerously, his fists lighting up, looking between the armored man and Erigor. He took a moment to size up the unknown individual, but took note of the rather small magical presence he had, and the fact the armor he had looked rather sinister, the black iron giving him the look of a dark wizard.
"He's the one who saved us! That's Mr Harry!" The oldest of the kids spoke up quickly, making Natsu glance at them before looking back at the armored man with a new light.
"Natsu! Look! His armor is covered in gashes!" Happy said, noticing the large cuts on the iron plates, making Natsu's eyes widen. "Those had to have come from Erigor!" Natsu then glared up at Erigor, who had been floating in the sky, appraising the dragon slayer, thinking about how to combat the fire wielder this time.
"So it looks like it's just you and me Erigor. Ready for the real rematch?" Natsu asked with a feral grin, obviously looking forward to the coming fight. Erigor scowled, raising his scythe.
"Yea, I think I am, and this time, I'm not the one whos going down." Erigor threatened, before swiping his scythe around him "Storm Mail!" Erigor's shout was followed by the wind around him twisting rapidly, before seeming to form around his body, completely encasing himself in a torrent of wind-made armor.
"So he did have more up his sleeve…" Harry said to himself, watching as the wind circulated around Erigor's body. Shouldn't that be creating a vacuum inside of the vortex to the point where he can't breathe? then again, magic. Harry's thoughts were interrupted as Natsu flew up to meet Erigor by way of his magic flying and talking cat. I swear, things just keep getting weirder. Harry jogged to where the kids were as a flaming fist met a wind shrouded Scythe creating a shockwave of high pressure winds and flames, Harry reached Madison, Jake, and Sally, quickly shielding them as a wave of heated air pressure washed over them. Damn, I can even feel the heat through the armor. These guys don't mess around. Harry thought, turning around to see Erigor and Natsu clash in the air.
"Storm Shred!" Erigor's yell was followed by a barrage of nearly translucent 'blades' of wind, only barely visible thanks to the faint purple glow of magic they gave off. The attack was directed at Natsu, who was below him, so once Natsu Dodged, the blades went to the ground, cutting down several trees with relative ease. The Dragon slayer retaliated by breathing his right foot in fire and soaring above the wind mage before Happy dropped him.
"Fire Dragon Claw!" Natsu exclaimed, Erigor managing to dodge the hit, but some of the dense flames struck at the storm mail Erigor had created, making it falter, even if just slightly. Natus did not relent, breathing his other foot in fire and using his legs to launch himself at Erigor, head first. "Fire Dragon Sword Horn!" The dragon slayer's body, covered in flames, struck Erigor's storm mail, and after a moment where the two attacks met, they both dispersed. The flames around Natsu were blown away while Erigor's storm mail seemed to falter and die. Erigor looked panicked, while Natsu looked like he was having the time of his life.
Harry couldn't help but stare in genuine awe as the two mages clashed. The power they had was almost unreal, and yet here they were, duking it out with shockwaves and heatwaves even he could feel. Erigor seemed to regain his composure, forming a large magic circle in front of him.
"Storm Bringer!" At those words, the wind around Harry picked up significantly, which was swiftly followed by a several story tall tornado emerging from the ground, and sweeping both Natsu and his cat in it. They cried out in both pain and shock as the winds cut at them hard. I should probably get the kids out of here asap. Harry figured. He urged the kids to start moving away from the fight, which they thankfully did without asking. Harry was right behind them, trudging along in long strides to make up for his slow pace. All was for naught though, as only a minute later, Natsu came crashing down in front of them like a meteor. There was a good bit of dirt on him, and spots of blood visible from various cuts all along his body, plus his shirt had been mostly shredded, reduced to nothing but thin strands of cloth loosely clinging to his person.
"Other way." Harry stated simply, imploring the kids to go in a different direction, which they attempted to, but Erigor found them first, floating down to get in their way. Harry stood between them, the wind mage rolling his eyes.
"You really think you can do anything to me after seeing that?" Erigor asked incredulously, glancing over to the pink haired man, who was slowly getting up out of the crater with a glare.
"Maybe not, but it's not going to do any good to not try." Harry said with defiance, raising his arms, curling his gloved hands into fists, and mentally activating the one true weapon he had installed. Two thin sticks of iron shot out, stopping nearly two feet from the sides of his arms enchantments glowing alongside the iron cylinders. Erigor's eyes widened a bit at the development, but before he could respond, Harry activated them. "So, It's my turn." With that, two streams of magical liquid fire shot forth from the barrels, covering the distance between Erigor and Harry in an instant, and shrouding the dark mage with curling orange flames. Only for the attack to disperse easily, winds shooting around, making the flames dance around the mage harmlessly, largely dispersing the attack.
"Nice try, but no luck." Erigor said with a smirk, traces of the attack landing around him. Harry kept the pressure on though, the flames curving around the mage like snow to a plow. He walked forwards, the flames still being spewed from Harry, the armored man growing nervous as he took a step back. They both stopped though as the flames from Harry's attack began to move towards their left, where Natsu was, as the fire mage began to inhale forcefully, the fire seemingly pulled towards his mouth by the action. The hell? Was all Harry could think, before some of the fire reached his mouth not a second later, and Natsu began to inhale it without any sign of pain or discomfort. The Hell!? Harry suddenly realized there was a hell of a lot about magic that he had no idea about, something he found embarrassing, wonder inducing, and terrifying all at the same time. Sure he had read a great deal about magical types in the books he had read in the library, but nothing like this, plus actually seeing such powers come into conflict in front of him had been another thing all together.
Natsu finished absorbing the fire, the other two mages looking at him with curiosity as he picked himself up. "Thanks for the meal bud." Natsu said, leveling a glare at Erigor, one that seemed to make the wind mage unconsciously take a step back. "Now I'm all fired up!" At his declaration, his body became shrouded in flames, a feral grin like when he first started fighting appearing on his face. Erigor took another step backwards, while Harry wisely got out of the way, ushering the kids with him.
"Fire Dragon-" Natsu began, his cheeks puffing up a bit as he prepared for an all out attack.
"Storm Mail!" Erigor yelled frantically, the storm wall surrounding his person before he surged upwards, attempting to dodge the attack. Natsu followed the dark mage with his eyes, lining up his attack.
"-Roar!" Natsu finished naming his attack as he bellowed out a massive pillar of fire headed straight towards the wind mage, Erigor narrowly avoided the attack, but Natsu merley moved his head towards the wind mage, the pillar of fire not shrinking or diminishing. The dragon slayer's attack hit, destroying the storm mail in an instant, before meeting Erigor's body directly, making the wind mage cry in burning pain.
The attack ceased, Erigor remaining suspended in the air a moment, his skin and clothes burned to a crisp, and his eyes having lost their color. He fell out of the sky, landing not far from the five of them, followed shortly by a small blue cat with wings, looking down at the downed wind mage with a thoughtful expression.
"I think you did worse this time Natsu. You needed help from the armored guy." Harry looked up to see the cat look over to the mage who had single handedly dealt with the most powerful threat he had known since arriving in Earthland. Natsu breathed out, seemingly not that irritated by the remark, but instead shrugging it off.
"Yea, whatever, he was a little tougher I guess, but he only got one or two good hits in." Natsu defended, looking at the blue cat as he descended.
"Well, we should probably make sure he doesn't get away this time." Happy seemingly chastised, as for why, Harry could only guess that Natsu had defeated Erigor once before, but last time had somehow allowed the wind mage to escape captivity. Harry would have kept listening, but he was stopped by three shapes who got right up into his face.
"Mr Harry, that was amazing!" Jake practically screamed, while Sally simply stared between the two mages with an awestruck expression. "I mean, Madison said 'We're ready' and then we were just like brrroaauuuggg" He said, attempting to mimic the sound of the thrusters. "And then the explosion happened a-" He was cut off as Madison conked her little brother over the head, eliciting a small whine from him.
"Mr Harry was also there, so you don't have to go repeating what just happened." Madison gently chastised, making Jake nod a bit forlornly. She then looked up to the armored man, a genuine smile on her face. "Thank you. We're free of that place thanks to you." Jake then nodded fervently, while Sally nodded afterward, following after her brother's example, but not as heavily.
"There's no need, and besides, I told you I'd get you home safe right?" At that, they all nodded. "Which also means getting you three back to your parents." At his statement, the kids seemed to freeze for a moment, and then the younger ones seemed to pounce on Harry, 'thank you' and 'your the best' coming from their mouths the most. Madison seemed to have expected the response, chuckling at the reaction of the kids. "Why are you hugging me? I told you all I'd get you home yesterday, didn't I?" Harry asked, somewhat confused about their sudden affection towards him.
"It's probably because you're a pretty good guy!" Natsu's sudden interjection into the conversation drew all eyes to him. "Seems that way to me anyway!" He said with a light laugh, making Harry merely shrug. "Anyway, we need to get back to the bridge we were on! Lucy and Edmond are hogging all the fun!" Natsu said, picking up the limp form of Erigor, and beginning to trek towards the old bridge. So Edmond is here, and he did get help. It's a good thing I suppose. Harry thought as he followed behind the seemingly excited and unhindered dragon slayer while the kids stayed behind them. He isn't even limping after that attack, but my arms and head still ache from when Erigor struck me all those times. If it wasn't for the armor, I'm sure I'd be dead tenfold. Harry thought with an odd form of awe and dread, an odd sense of respect forming for the pink haired young man.
Edmond cursed lightly as he got stuck by another stray magical attack, this time being cast by a mage who appeared to be air boxing. The bandit mage used some kind of fist magic which allowed him to keep distance from his enemy, while still being able to land solid strikes with ease. Edmond, upon quickly realizing he would have a difficult time getting close enough to this foe to hit him, unleashed a projectile from his mind "Cosmic make: Anvil!" he called out, hurtling a smaller, but faster than normal projectile at the bandit. Edmond's opponent dodged, but not before Edmond could close a significant distance on the enemy who was now in range of his whip.
Edmond snapped his whip at the legs of the mage, who was grabbed and tumbled down to the ground, his head getting slammed hard and causing him to go unconscious. However, even after that small victory, it looked to Edmond like they still had plenty of men to spare. Edmond focused on his whip to dissipate without issue before facing his new opponents.
Another bandit rushed Edmond, this time a large hammer in his hands and a friend to join him. He wasn't sure if their weapons were magical based or not, so he needed to come up with a way to find out. Thankfully, he felt like he'd have that problem covered.
As the bandit readied his hammer, his friend readied a crossbow that he carried on his back. Edmond dodged the hammer with ease. It was a slow moving weapon, apparently not designed for combat but construction by the looks of it. But Edmond wasn't worried about the hammer as much as the crossbow. The bandit focused his attention in hopes to find an opening before he fired a bolt. Edmond cursed as the bolt grazed his right arm, piercing through his black duster, and slicing against his skin.
Edmond charged the bandit with the crossbow, positioning his hands into his now signature casting style. "Cosmic make: Sword!" He yelled, swinging wide, the cosmic sword slamming into the bandit's chest. He coughed out spit as he was hurled backwards, Edmond turning around as the bandit with the hammer came after him with a vengeful look. The ameteur wizard gripping the cosmic-made sword tightly as he swung right as the bandit did. The two weapons met, the sword easily slicing through the wooden handle of the weapon, and allowing Edmond to easily dodge the now free falling hammerhead. He followed up with a strong punch against the bandit's face, knocking him to the ground before slamming his sword into his body, knocking him out cold.
Edmond huffed as he surveyed the damage so far, and saw that Lucy was doing about as well as he was. Considering her power placement in canon, he was rather embarrassed by that. More approached them as they prepared for another onslaught. Edmond wiped his forehead, the sweat on his brow indicating to him just how tired he was getting. Not only that, but he was beginning to feel the sensation of his magic pool draining. I can't keep this up for much longer, He said to himself But I can't let them get away with what they've done to us and the town.
"How you holding up?" Edmond asked, looking over to Lucy, slightly wincing as he moved, his injuries making most kinds of movement difficult. Lucy was panting slightly, and sweat was running down the side of her face, her whip in one hand, and a golden key in the other.
"As good as I can in this situation." Lucy stated, also wincing as she spoke. Edmond sighed loudly, or attempted to, before breaking down into a coughing fit, bruises he was unable to see on his chest making deep breathing painful. "Edmond!" Lucy cried in worry, watching Edmond cough.
"They're on their last ropes!" One of the larger bandits yelled with a smile, several whip lashes across his body, and his clothes largely in tatters. His words seemed to rally the still conscious bandits, all crying as they charged at once, seeing their chance to take down their opponents. Lucy readied her magic, the key in her left hand glowing with gold light while Edmond growled his cough down and got ready to cast another spell. Before the ground in front of the bandits erupted in fire, making them stop, and some of them getting burned as the flames danced dangerously close to them. Lucy's hardened expression turned into a happy one as she looked up to see Natsu flying above them with the help of Happy, a wide grin on his face.
"Looks like we weren't too late!" Natsu exclaimed gleefully, the bandits suddenly realizing what his return meant. Edmond sighed lightly in relief upon seeing the dragon slayer, knowing now that Erigor had been dealt with. Now, we need to get to what's left of their base and look for Harry, he's sure to have made his escape or something. He can't be dead… he just can't Edmond thought, watching as Natsu descended as the flames died down, putting himself between the bandits, Edmond and Lucy.
"I think it'd be best if we all let Natsu handle the rest of this." A new voice spoke up, one that was immediately familiar to Edmond, although the rather heavy clunky footsteps that followed were not. Edmond whirled around quick enough to give most people whiplash to see a figure clad in black iron, covered in a multitude of slash marks and cuts, and with the familiar glow of Harry's magic beneath the plates. There was also an unconscious Erigor slung across his left shoulder, bound in ropes.
"Harry!?" Edmond exclaimed, not expecting his friends sudden appearance. As he said this, an explosion rocked the area in front of them as Nastu got to work. The cosmic wizard also noticed three other figures somewhat hiding behind Harry, two of them being rather small. Lucy took note of the figure as well, a slightly conflicted expression on her face. Edmond's shock soon turned to happiness, relieved his friend was very much alive and kicking.
"So… this is your friend?" Lucy asked hesitantly, looking at the black iron armor with slight trepidation. It's color, the man's slightly baritone voice, and the fact he looked near seven feet tall in the armor made him an intimidating figure.
"Yea, this is Harry, Harry, this is Lucy." Edmond introduced the two of them, Harry offering the blonde a curt nod. She returned it right as a burst of fire erupted behind her, scaring her into jumping up, Natsu's fighting bleeding into their area.
"You idiot! Who are you even aiming at? The enemy's over there!" Lucy yelled up at Natsu, the dragon slayer taking notice of her location.
"Oops, sorry Lucy. Guess I got a little carried away. There's just so many bad guys to burn!" he said in a strange, but oddly genuine apology. Lucy didn't really seem to acknowledge his apology immediately.
"Well, keep an eye on what you're burning! I doubt the mayor would pay us if we all went back as a crisp!" Lucy's yell made Harry look at Edmond, and even with his face covered, Edmond could tell he was raising his brow. Edmond merely shrugged, as Lucy drew closer to Edmond and Harry, staying out of the way of Natsu as much as possible.
"So… Lucy. I imagine you and Natsu were both hired by Edmond to rescue me?" Harry surmised, Lucy looking at the armored man with slightly wide eyes.
"Y-Yea, did Natsu tell you?" Lucy asked, curiously, but Harry merely shrugged.
"Not really, but it was easy to figure out. You're both guild wizards given your matching marks, you're both new to this area, and people I haven't seen before, and you're here with Edmond." Harry explained his reasoning, Lucy blinking, thinking about all the times normal people or other mages had simple misunderstandings, and made some jobs a lot harder than necessary. Yet Harry had broken down the situation quickly and accurately. "Is something wrong?" He suddenly asked, curiosity in his tone.
"No, its just, not a lot of people would be so calm to seeing someone like Natsu… I guess." Lucy answered, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. "Um. Lucy Heartfilia, me and Natsu are both from Fairy Tail." She offered her hand, a small smile gracing her lips, Harry taking the offered hand in his gloved one, and nodding firmly.
"Harrison White, novice mage." Harry stated simply, removing his hand from the gesture. Then he turned behind him to his three charges. "And these three are Sally, Jake, and Madison, in order from youngest to oldest." The three waved at Lucy, the celestial spirit mage glazing at Harry with a questioning look. Before he could respond, Madison spoke up first.
"We were captives in Erigor's base when Mr. Harry came in too. We were told to help him make a weapon, but instead we all worked on creating this armor so we could all escape." Madison's response made Lucy nod an understanding expression on her face.
"Alright!" Natsu's exclamation brought everyone's attention to him as he stood around a small mound of charred and unconscious bandits, groans filling the air. "Lets get these guys back to the village! I'm starving!" He said with a happy smile, Happy himself responding with an 'aye'.
"Well… I suppose we could carry some of them back…" Harry said, eyeing the unconscious bandits with a sense of dread, knowing they couldn't bring them all back to the village in a timely manner, but also knowing leaving all of these others here meant they would probably get away.
"We'll just carry as many as we can." Lucy said with a deadpan expression, making Natsu nod as he began to pile bandits onto his shoulders like it was going out of style. Edmond sighed as he went to follow his example, but due to his injuries, only managed one, Lucy doing the same. Harry grabbed one more bandit on his other shoulder, but any others Natsu had to carry. That being a total of twelve, any others were left as the small group made their way back to the village.
"Finally!" Lucy cried in relief, finally having been freed of the bandit on her shoulders and allowed a moment to rest. Natus seemed just as cheery as before, not having had a problem with loading nearly a dozen men on his shoulder. Edmond looked as if death had washed over him, merely staring at the ground as his body screamed at him to rest, his body, despite now flowing with magic, still not used to such abuse. Harry seemed better off, but only slightly, and harder to tell due to his armor.
"Welp, Another job well done!" Natsu exclaimed happily, all of them standing just outside of the guard station, the bandits and Erigor himself having been loaded off with the authorities. They had yet to report the completion to the mayor, but at this point, it was mostly a done job. Happy yawned, the evening light around them signaling that night was soon to approach, the cat's body reacting as most would. Harry was reminded of how Madison and her siblings had been once they had finally gotten to the village. thankfully, the guard station was more than willing to look after them and help get them back to their old village. The novice mage still had every intention of making sure they got back to their home, but at the moment, they needed to be somewhere safe and comfortable.
"Great…" Edmond moaned, clearly just wanting to get some rest. Harry shifted, his armored plates clacking against each other a bit, and upon looking around he saw the familiar figure of the mayor approaching. He gently elbowed Edmond alert as he pointed to the mayor, who had an understanding smile already on his face as he approached.
"Well done, all of you. It appears as though the assignment must have been more troublesome than we all first thought." The mayor said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Natsu just laughed it off.
"Its no big deal, that Erigor guy was a chump, no problem for a fairy tail wizard!" Natsu's statement earned a groan from Lucy and a deadpan stare from Edmond while Harry hummed to himself, thinking about the fight Natsu was referring to.
"Nevertheless, Ginville is in your debt. You have all helped capture Erigior and a good portion of the bandits working for him. You've all done a wonderful job." The mayor said hopefully, making the mages smile at one another, a sense of joint accomplishment in their expressions. "Which I believe means a reward is in order." His statement drew the mages in again, who all listened raptly for what the mayor offered. "For Natsu and Lucy, I have prepared a total sum of 190,000 jewls, and of course, free lodgings in the local Inn for tonight if you wish."
Lucy and Natsu cried out happily upon hearing the reward offered, apparently more than pleased with the amount. Harry, listening to the mayor seemed a bit confused why the two professional mages would be okay with receiving what was roughly 1,900 dollars in U.S. currency. Then he remembered that jewls could get you a little farther in this world than they would have on earth if converted. "For Edmond and Harry, I believe most of your reward was agreed to when you first arrived, however, I wish to give each of you something from the town's treasury. You both have done quite a bit for this small town, and I believe it only right to try to help the both of you as much as we can."
"Treasury?" Harry inquired, curious about what else besides jewels they would keep in there.
"Yes, we have small collection of magic items and such that might be of interest to you if you want. Nothing particularly special, I'm afraid, but if they can help you in any way you'd be welcome to them" The mayor explained, making Edmond nod, his gaze indicating he was still a hit out of it.
"Sure thing, sounds great." Edmond stated, grogginess in his voice. Harry sighed a bit, looking over at Lucy, Natsu, and Happy who were all speaking amongst themselves, seemingly talking about how to split the reward, with Lucy progressively becoming more and more irate.
"That sounds fine, but perhaps we could look over it quickly? I'm sure I speak for both me and Edmond in saying we'd like to get some shut eye. If we haven't decided perhaps we could look over it all tomorrow?" Harry offered, his armor still on, and apparently not too bothered about it.
"That sounds fine to me Harry, so if you would, follow me." The mayor said, the three of the making their way down the street towards town hall. As they did, the two fairy tail wizards and one flying cat seemed to have come to an agreement with the reward split.
"So… should we go collect the reward now? Or in the morning?" Natsu asked himself looking away with a thinking expression. Lucy was about to answer, but Happy spoke up first.
"We should just ask in the morning! I'm tired… and hungry!" The cat whined, his stomach growling loudly, and following it, Natsu's did as well.
"So we should ask for the reward now so we can pay for our food!" Lucy exclaimed, her already annoyed mood quickly becoming frustrated as Natsu rubbed his stomach.
"Okay okay, geez." Natsu said, before turning to the mayor, only to find him, Edmond, and Harry all had left. "Huh. They're gone." He said neutrally, Lcuy gawking that the three of them would just leave like that.
"I guess Lucy will have to pay." Happy said, stating that as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"I will not you dumb cat!" Lucy yelled defiantly, glaring at Happy angrily.
"Thanks for treating us!" Natsu said graciously, a large grin on his face. That grin didn't last long as Lucy kicked the face it belonged to.
Author's notes:
Welp… I don't know what to say except… it was a long time coming. Wish we could have had this out sooner, but Black_Hawk has been very busy Irl, and while I have as well, most of my free time has also been taken up by my own stories that any followers of mine know that I write.
I'm not sure when the next chapter will come out unfortunately, hopefully within the next month, but I don't like making promises, especially with myself having two other stories in the works. Maybe one day when I complete one of those two I'll be able to dedicate more time to this fic, but that won't come about for some time. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and as always…
Thanks for reading!