"Lets hope it doesn't take another year."
Haha, what a fuckin' joke I am.
Odd thing is that this was one of the chapters i'd been looking forward to writing despite the somewhat rushed and weird mish-mashing of ideas I compacted into the story thus-far. And I left it for possibly the longest time i've ever had between chapters.
Oh well, you get another chapter regardless, even if you all grew out of this shit back in 2016. God i'm an old man for still writing this…
Old, says the 23 year old.
But! I do now have a solid idea of what I want from this story and it makes this chapter even more important! So that is epic 420 no-scope trick-shot right?
Anyway, here ya go for those who are still holding onto this story. You absolute troopers.
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The sandy gulch glassed over from the heavy gusts of roaring flame, trees wilted early, the sky was lost under the brightness of red hot rage. Mirajane briefly wondered if the devil himself had come to see what abominable beings were causing such noise before her misty vision cleared after her brief respite.
Before her a silhouette stood, unmoving and uncaring of the flames around him, standing tall like an unbreakable pillar of strength as he stared forward. Though she couldn't see his face, she could feel the negative emotions crashing through his body. His fists blur in motion as the bright flames merged with the miniscule lightlessness of the shadow movements he made. Everything about this man was a mystery, but one thing made it clear just who this stranger was…
His pink hair, shaded out and dulled swayed in the gusts of wind he made with his magic. Glaring at the trio before him, unheeding of the redhead warrior who had leaped from the top of the gulch. Neither seemed to care all that much in the moment… Their strength magnified by rage, forms tall and imposing enough to scare even the toughest of hearts.
But all Mirajane could see were the broken remains of her friends. Natsu and Erza.
Omid blinked, wiping his hand against his forehead as he stared forward, watching the two intruders with interest. Though as he studied Erza his grin came back to life, the flickering lights of heat death only serving to abstract the lifelessness of his sundered gaze. The twisted pools recognised the redhead with glee. The whole gang was getting back together!
Though the guy was new…
"Ohoho!~" He cackled, unfettered by the knee-shaking glare the two demonic figures gave him and his allies. "Ajeel, Ajeel! Its HER!" He laughed, flailing his arms everywhere, slapping his thighs in euphoria as the sand mage brought his arms down from his guarded stance, giving the girl as his own nasty smirk.
"Then she's mine..." He grinned. Their last fight had him somewhat entertained, he just had to see how much better she was. "I'm gonna enjo-"
A geyser of fire and hate erupted underneath his feet forcing him to move from his relaxed stance and closer towards his adversaries, barely managing to land on his feet before a closed fist of steel met his jaw that sent his body rag-dolling into the inferno.
"You…!" Erza thundered forward, re-quipped into the blackest of armours. A sword blacker than the night and bigger than the two of them smashing downwards with an unyielding strength that had the sand mage reeling for a moment as he desperately tried to regain his immediate bearings for the fight ahead.
"Iron-Make: Lan-EEK!" Before the maker mage had a chance, Natsu had shot forward, silently charging ahead and getting into his personal space and grabbing him by the front of his robes and sent him careening towards the top of the gulch, spiralling flame danced a violent waltz as the Dargon-Slayer rocketed up, fire coating his legs and arms as he wound back for a devasting blow.
"Fire-Dragon: Iron Fist!"
There was nothing Omid could have done with so little time as he span endlessly from the brute force the punch held, sending him further without much to keeping from going splat. Holding onto his robes, he chose to wait for the pink-haired loser to close the distance, his grin turning feral. This battle might actually be kinda fun!
"Woooooo!" He screamed, joy pouring from his voice as he grabbed the oncoming punch and twisted his assailant around to act as his own personal crash mat. "You're like a warmer version of that ice boy! Oh how utterly perfect!"
"Bastard!"
"You can also talk! Nice!"
"Fire-Dragon: Roar!"
Not what he had expected, but the grip he had didn't lessen in the slightest as the two mages crashed back onto solid glassed sand, shattering the biggest mirror Omid had ever seen as the splinters and shards cascaded from hundreds of metres in sky, reflecting the fire and smog. Fighting the fire-mage was a challenge to be sure, every attack made was met with a devastating force and expertly used counter that had him fighting on the backfoot as the two dashed through Natsu's flames like a pair of demented pinballs trying to shatter eachother.
If Omid tried going for an uppercut, he was met with a parry and immediate counter via an elbow to the cranium.
A jab? Turned up and away followed by a nasty kick to his stomach, making his lunch slosh in ways he would rather avoid feeling.
Magic? No time, he was a fast caster like his allies were for the most part. And this guy seemed used to fighting maker mages…
"Take this, Fire-Dragon: Spiral Palm!" Natsu growled, his voice low and angry as his fire span from his arm and curled around his own closed fist in four dancing fists of dragons breath. "This is for Gray, you creepy, ginger haired freak!"
That… explained the expert way he was handing his ass to him. Another laugh echoed throughout the gulch as Omid felt his skin cook and sizzle under the lethal heat of Natsu Dragneel.
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The purgatory armour posed a threatening visage for sure… One that also gave power boosts that were twice as scary as the look it gave. The benefits Erza had come to know very intimately as the over-sized blade end of Hell-Cutter slashed through the wind with a searing ring of disappointment as Ajeel deftly moved out of the way with a speed that Erza had only seen from him. Though the fact he wasn't mocking of belittling her this time around spoke of how much he had to concentrate to keep himself safe from her savage attacks.
He couldn't dodge forever though… That was something she'd count on for now. Then Hell-Cutter would taste his black blood for the first time… and set the rest alight in disgust.
The sand mage quickly moved to the side in anticipation for her next big swing, only to get by the sudden kick she sent into his gut, wrenching over he had little time to move, but as he hit the floor he could feel the scorching blackness of the blade cut the air in two mere inches from the back of his head as the momentum carried the sword into a position where she pointed it down and into the ground mere second after he had rolled to the right.
"Scarab heap!" He growled, hand outstretched as the small opening was found. Send a small clump of sand into Erza's armour and locking the joint in place.
"Damn you!" She yelled, releasing Hell-Cutter and ducking underneath the high kick Ajeel sent towards her head with lethal intent. "Stay still and die like the vermin you are!"
Ajeel blasted her back with what little sand hadn't been glassed, giving her a nasty look. "Lead by example, red! Better yet, how about I finish the job from back then?"
"The thing you'll be finishing is you time on this earth. Requip!"
The small smirk Ajeel had managed to claim from their bout quickly vanished as he watched the armour disappeared, the sand falling from Erza's elbow joint and onto the floor where the heat made short work of the grains.
"… Now. Requip!"
And the frown he had turned into a grimace as the armour just came back without the small clog he had made.
'That damn fire mage has made this much harder than it needed to be! He turned all of the sand around here to glass!' Ajeel tutted and side-stepped a fatal lunge from the redheaded demon. Things really were not going to plan and worse yet, he couldn't do much than hope Invel decides to step in and finish them all off.
Like that would happen!
"Shit!" His cry of pain bellowed loudly, distracting Omid from his fight and earning him a kick to the groin for his poor choices.
Ajeel staggered back, clenching his teeth in agony as he looked at the minor stab wound in his shoulder. His liquid life leaving the wound and dropping to the floor before the flames evaporated what it could. The look on Erza's face almost concerned him, the way it almost looked pleased and…
"Sand blast!" He screamed, throwing both arms forward, ignoring the pain as he forced everything he had into making a hole in the glass, feeling a little relief at the sound of mass shattering from behind him as a huge pillar of sand rose from the glassy confines and slammed all its weight into the charging Titania, earning him a shout of pain as he felt the woman fall to one knee in a vain effort to hold herself upright.
"Gah!" Erza strained her body hard, desperately trying to free herself from the coffin she quickly found herself in, cursing up a storm as the weight beared its full might down on her as she scolded herself for the foolish charge, the second she saw him bleed all that went through her mind was 'End him, end him now...~' and the next thing she knows the world had gone black and dry.
"HAHAAAA! YES! LOSE AND DIE!" The voice of one of her most hated people cackled, pain and loathing filled his being as he pushed harder downwards. His eyes crazed with with victory as he watched the life leave her like water from a popped balloon. "LOSE AND GODDAMN DIE LIKE THE WORTHLESS LITTLE GIRL YOU ARE! THIS WAS INEVITABLE AND YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THIS WAS HOW IT WOULD ALWAYS END!"
"Damn it, damn it!" The situation was dawning on her mind, death awaited her if she stayed here, but the only thing she could convey was her hatred, even when the sand began filling her mouth all she could feel was the need to kill the cur that started all of this. Even as her vision began to darken, the only thing on her mind was the ways Hell-Cutter would run them all through. It was all she wanted to do!
It was all-
It… It was all…
"Energy Landmine!"
A scream tore through the air, sapping the energy from the landscape and freezing all in its place. The sounds of battle stopped momentarily when Erza opened her bleary eyes and looked upon what had occurred in her brief confinement.
And her eyes opened wide…
The crazed confidence of Ajeel was no longer plastered on his face. His eyes were stilled wide open, and his brow creased. But the ferocity was gone, replace with something more akin to surprise.
Looking down, she could see why…
Behind him, stood the panting, ragged form of Mirajane. Hunched, tired and staring at the back of his head like it was the devil himself.
With her hand through his chest cavity like it was a glove…
Though before she could even remark on anything that just happened, her world froze over.
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(10 minutes later)
The ship rocked steadily, gentle sways and subtle rocks sending some of the crew to a gentle, and restful sleep.
Whilst it matters little what they wanted, after today, it may be best to let it continue. He didn't want them to attempt a mutiny. Not because they's win, but because it would be harder to explain to his lord what had occurred for such action to be required than it would be to kill them and dump their bodies over the deck.
Plus…
"Are you telling me that you cannot save him?"
"We are artists indeed, but even WE couldn't breath life back into that even if we wanted to. Nope, I am afriad he is completely dead! Shame for him, but life must move on!"
"Silence, I get it."
How on Earthland did it come to this? They had taken the slaves they needed, but lost one of their own in return, even if he was a damn nuisance he was still (for some unfounded reason) valued by the emperor, and his loss would be felt.
Maybe he could blame it on Omid for being too unpredictable? Ajeel himself for being a reckless fool? Certainly, he could have just froze them all, but the Fire-Dragon slayer was strong, too strong to hold for too long. And the Titania was more brutal than the records of her told. Something was off about her, something he would have to keep an eye on if they ever crossed paths every again.
Plus, he had said to just finish them off and get on with the task at hand, they didn't listen and one of them paid the ultimate price. All cut and dry at the end of the day, they were the ones who decided that their pride was more important than the mission, this was merely a lesson to be learned as far as he was concerned.
Though he had wished that his ice would have frozen the Dragon Slayer for a little longer than it had. No time was given to finishing off the girls nearby as the thawing had already began to show results by that time. No matter. They were long gone by now.
Not the best ending results he'd ever gotten, but he was one his greatnesses most trusted for a reason. He could turn this around to suit his needs if required
Indeed, Invel Yura found himself intrigued by the events of today… and hopeful for the events in the future. No matter what came his way, he'd always have a plan at hand.
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Yes, this was essentially a massive fight scene, a fight scene that was chaotically cut up. But it was not only the start of a reunion but it also set up some bits and bobs that will snowball later on, some more noticeable than others.
Plus I got to go back to my roots of dark, gritty and over the top fight scenes. Which was a nice throwback to my college years from the not so distance past.
Anyway, lets try this one more time…
Clears throat
LETS HOPE THIS DOESN'T TAKE ANOTHER YEAR FOR ME TO POST.
Anyway, if you enjoyed you know what to do, I needen't tell you how to use the review and follow buttons. Lol
-Viperhat