Chapter 117: Taking Down the Strongest! Part 1
"Don't back down now! Execute the plan, and we win! I believe in us! Lets do it!" Even with his embarrassing display before today, Reiss's words resonated with everyone on the team. Even Cygnus grinned as the five of White Eclipse B mobilized.
"Fusion Make: —" A combination of brown and blue mixed together as Tyson slammed his hands to the ground. "Mud Pit!" A pit of opened beneath the nymph, causing her feet to sink within the opening. But, she didn't show any signs of struggle as the remaining four shot forward. Creating a triangular shape with both hands together, Micaiah fired off a beam of light as Ilaria took to the air above with a massive leap. She waited, hovering for as long as she could, but still, Evanee wasn't moving at all. The expectation was for the Ace of Twilight Zone to dodge or take all focus to block the incoming beam of light, but instead, she stayed still until the very last second where she smacked the attack away — into the air and directly towards Ilaria who gasped as she had to contort her body just to avoid it. "…Whew!" She sighed out in relief. "Ilaria!" Reiss then shouted, but as she looked up, nothing was there. She looked down, and still nothing. That's when she felt a tight grip on the collar of her shirt before being yanked even higher and then launched towards the ground at a meteoric pace.
"Oh no!" Ilaria shouted to herself, aware that no one was going to help her. In her hands, phantasmal scythes appeared, and she used them to slow her fall by throwing them and connecting them to the nearest building. As Evanee descended to the ground, Reiss sprinted directly towards her. "Hm? I thought you were a coward? That's refreshing to see." She said, still remembering how Reiss forfeited his match without context. "Taru!" Reiss shouted instead of replying, breaking off to the left as a giant native spirit appeared from his body to run off to the right. Evanee surveyed the area as if Reiss and his partner weren't even there. "What are you up to, Gravity god. Where did you go?"
"Hey! Eyes over at the biggest threat!" Reiss shouted as he and Taru closed in on her. "Don't tell someone who can kill you what their priorities should be. You're a thousand years behind when it comes to me, kid." And she proved it as she ducked the instant the giant Stone Spirit Taru swung his right fist. In that same second, Evanee placed a palm to the stone chest of Taru, creating a powerful blast of darkness magic that shot right through him and causing him to disappear. "No way…" Reiss looked on, fear evident as Evanee rushed him. Before she could reach him however, Lluvi dove in, stopping the Ace's punch with her invisible wall known as the barrier. Still, that punch caused reverberation, Lluvi shaking a bit as she dropped the barrier she created to go on an unbalanced attack. She fired in a two finger strike towards Evanee, trying to cut off her magic flow if even for a second. That was the plan, but the reverberation she was feeling had her so off equilibrium that Evanee didn't even have to dodge as Lluvi's fingers flew right past her head. Instead, the blue haired Barrier Mage found herself with Evanee's knee launched into her stomach. Hunched over and holding her stomach, Lluvi fell to her knees in one blow, and was about to be finished with a stomp to the head until a gravity influx caused the Ace to literally lighten up. "There you are." Evanee retorted to the action, turning her head to see an incoming Cygnus. "Gravity God's Bellow!" He shouted, lurching forward to fire off a powerful oral attack on the nymph. Evanee simply covered herself with her own arms, eventually pushing away the attack effortlessly as Cygnus rushed in and swung a powerful, gravity infused right haymaker that Evanee once again parried with her own bare limbs.
Bare teeth from the White Eclipse mage mirrored a grinning nymph from Twilight Zone, painting an intense yet possible foreboding picture as the struggle between the two caused lightning to surge around them — strictly made from the sudden intense atmosphere.
"I can't get close to that!" Lluvi shouted, pointing out that it was the perfect time to attack. That's when Micaiah raised her right hand. "Black Knight!" She shouted, creating just that. A large Black Knight appeared with his jousting sword, sprinting directly towards the occupied nymph. At the same time, Ilaria leapt high into the air again, spinning her translucent chained scythes. This time she didn't wait, and as Cygnus upped the pressure on his gravity field to keep Evanee down for just long enough, the chains to Ilaria's weapon wrapped around her wrists. Ilaria could barely keep her eyes open, the static force between the two clashing repeatedly was enough drive just about anything away, but she held on for dear life as the Black Knight finally broke though that force, aiming to pierce Evanee right through the abdomen.
She merely smirked, and with a powerful yank, Evanee sent Ilaria crashing down directly into the Black Knight. The two of them slammed into the ground, and the chains around Evanee slipped right off as she turned full attention back to Cygnus. The gravity god finally reeled back, but he kept the force of gravity going. The only thing it did was allow Evanee to flex her strength as she took a step forward to stay within Cygnus's vicinity. His eyes widened, quickly turning to an expression of anger and annoyance. "Yeah, so what!?" He shouted, swinging another gravity infused fist. She evaded it, and easily at that. She countered with a powerful punch of her own that Cygnus was able to block, but just as Lluvi experienced, the reverberation he felt in his forearms was enough to keep him off balance. "Gch! It's like being struck by a brick!"
"What an insult." She quipped. Evanee would then lunge towards Cygnus, only for the Demigod to stomp hard into the ground, causing his potent gravity to reverse itself and send the nymph high into the air from her own momentum.
"It's just gravity, but he's pretty advanced.. how else could he send me upwards. Floating from the lack of gravity is one thing, but this… this is basically falling upwards. Maybe White Eclipse has someone worth fighting after all. Not these losers of course, but now I have grown an insatiable curiosity for their Ace." As if she wasn't in the middle of combat, Evanee used her new height to look over directly towards Sidney Castle, who returned the look with his own curious expression. Evanee grinned, but then turned her attention back to what was happening as Cygnus yelled and pointed.
"Now, rookies! Get off your asses and hit her while she's vulnerable!"
"Vulnerable?" Evanee questioned, but they did exactly what they were told, simultaneously.
"Fusion Make: Magma Cannon!" The aura of steel and fire wrapped around Tyson's hands as he slammed them together to create a large cannon. It fired, letting loose a powerful blast of man-made magma. To his left, Lluvi was blessed with a white aura, her dispelling magic. She concentrated it into the palms of her hands and fired it forward just like a beam. "Light Beam!" Micaiah shouted, raising a single hand to the air and then towards Evanee to deliver her own elemental version of a beam for the nymph.
Finally, the Soul-Binder and the Native Spirit Summoner stood before them, side by side. "Poia!" Reiss shouted, creating another spirit next to him — his patented partner the star spirit Poia. That spirit would then cup its hands, gathering an abundance of star magic before firing it off. At the same time, Ilaria held her hands over each other, creating her own projectile version of her Soul-Binding magic.
These five combined their attacks for a massive, most impressive unison raid that hurled towards their target. Evanee raised a brow, but then held out a right palm. "Sure. I'll play along." She said aloud, not moving an inch as the attack slammed against her palm. It pushed her back, Evanee gritting her teeth and even placing her left hand against her right wrist for more strength to fight against the blast. Eventually however, she would get it under control and start to push back.
"No way…!" Reiss shouted as he watched, but Cygnus wasn't about to let despair hit as he appeared just above Evanee. "Tch!" She sucked her teeth, realizing she let her guard down on the only actual threat to her. A hammer fist scored its mark, infused with gravity magic to send the nymph flying back towards the ground violently as the five man unison raid just missed Cygnus while flying off into the air.
"Alright!" Micaiah shouted happily, but no one else shared that feeling. This was the first time Evanee was taken off her feet, and after watching her fight with Asuka before, they knew that this was far from over.
Evanee stood up without a problem, dusting herself off as Cygnus dropped back down to join the rookies side. Eyes then darted towards then, a stoic expression visible.
"We're in hell with a hell cat, gang." Cygnus announced with a smirk. "I put everything into that punch, but shes just cleaning herself. This might be our only fight of the free for all."
"Oi…you're counting us out?" Reiss asked. Cygnus then laughed. "Oh no.." He began, pointing his thumb to his own chest. Though he spoke to Reiss, his eyes remained on Evanee as his aura began to rise. "We're definitely coming out of this fight victorious. It just may take some time."
"Unfortunately for you, I don't have that much time." Said Evanee, now walking towards the bunch. With every step she took, her magic strength became more potent, as if she was releasing whatever was holding it back. Cygnus was well aware, and though he kept a cocky visage, he too began to raise his magic power exponentially. "Time.. yeah, this next round will be short for me too. Five minutes is all I got, but it's an upgrade from the last time I used it….
God Trigger!"
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"Nice work, Zalen." Reve congratulated his best friend as he jogged down the street looking for his own prey. Just as he planned, the gunslinger was searching for a captain, a ten pointer. And sooner or later, he would get his wish as he turned the corner once more to meet the one and only Laxus Dreyar in Crocus's market place. Skidding to a halt, Reve was already prepared as two pistols remained in his hands. "Oh? A rematch, and this time we're both fresh."
"Come off it, little man. Back then you wouldn't have gotten the best of me if I wasn't already exhausted. But I'm not the one to make excuses. You don't need to worry about finding Erza. Your run stops with me."
"Oh Laxus, give yourself more credit than that. You were the exact person I was looking for. I don't have time to settle personal grudges here. I'm here to fulfill destiny, and a promise I made to White Eclipse. We will be observed as the strongest guild in Fiore, even if for a second. So tell me, do you stand in the way of that?"
Suddenly, a jacket flew from his shoulders, wafting around in the air until it fell out of sight. Lightning then surged around his frame as he held out his right fist to take his battle stance. "Of course I do! The title of strongest guild belongs only to Fairy Tail! Why would I let you of all people steal that from us? By the looks of the score, we already knew that we weren't gathering first place this year. But one thing we won't do….is be set behind with White Eclipse at the herald!"
"That's fine!" Reve shouted back, spinning the two pistols in his hands as he too took a readied stance. "I climb mountains every day to get home, Laxus! So getting past you will just be another daily routine for me! Show me what you're truly made of, S-class of Fairy Tail!"
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Her heels clacked against the cobblestone street as she walked alone. Vivi, one of the council members isolated herself purposely as she finally reached a dead end. Sighing at the wall before her, she finally spoke with intention. "You can come out of hiding now. I know you've been stalking me. But I must tell you —"
Before she could finish her statement, Vivi was forced to leap away as Marshall came crashing in with his sword like a boulder to the ground. As he slowly rose from the smoky crater he created, a wicked smile and purple eyes peered directly into Vivi's own yellow pair. "Remember me?" He asked, placing his blade over his shoulders to rest. Vivi smiled, using her Light Construct magic to create her patented sword in order to match his. "Marshall Izumi. We've had some fun when you were locked away in prison."
"You tortured me for months straight just to get me to rat out my comrades. My pride hasn't been the same since." He admitted. That gave Vivi another positive feeling, relishing in that fact. "Oh? Did I hurt your feelings, Marshall? Are you here to tell me how much you resent me and you want your pride back?"
"On the contrary…" Marshall replied, slowly tilting his head back to look down upon the captain. "I'm here to thank you, Captain Vivi. But I'm also here to even the score. You took a good chunk of my pride, so in return I'll be taking something of yours."
"And what's that?" She asked, but as she continuously remembered the depths of Marshall's magic and what he was capable of in his arrest file, she remembered just what those purple eyes meant. "Disgusting —"
The fight was on! Marshall rushed her, swinging his sword downward as Vivi was just able to defend with her own blade. The second contact was made, Vivi spun, but Marshall leapt over the low swinging sword and with that momentum he created his own overhead swing in an attempt to slice her in half. Vivi sidestepped just in time, but the powerful swing trailed on even after the whiff; creating a small sliver in the ground for a few feet before finally dying down. A sweat drop formed on Vivi's temple, but the brunette council captain continued on with the duel, leaping away just for Marshall to give chase with that look on his face. The look of infatuation almost; Marshall's low-lidded lustful eyes never left Vivi's own pair nor her frame as he finally scored the first hit — an elbow directly to her abdomen. Wide eyed and in pain, the Council Captain was to be sent flying, but that was before Marshall grabbed her by the ankle before she could anywhere, slinging her back the opposite direction and into the ground behind him.
Rag-dolled around, Vivi found herself from the ground before snapping back to reality just in time to roll away from Marshall's downward strike. With his sword temporary impaled into the ground, Vivi did her best to disregard the pain she was in and slammed her heel into Marshall's chin. His head snapped upward, and it caused him to let go of his weapon. Confidence was brewing now that he was unarmed, because Vivi had no information on Marshall being any threat without his blade, and with this knowledge the Light Construct Mage no only flung her blade directly at Marshall, but she lunged right after it, creating another utility of light magic in the process. This time, chains and cuffs appeared in her hands, and as the blade from before pierced directly into Marshall's left shoulder, causing him to moan in blissful pain, Vivi slid in, using the distraction to slap both cuffs on Marshall.
"Mine once again, huh Marshall?" Vivi boasted, yanking on the chains that now held him captive. The Walking Sin stumbled forward, hiding his visage for a few seconds before he started laughing. As he raised his head again, those eyes of his were now light green. "Never. This time, it's you that's trapped with me!" With a powerful yank, he pulled Vivi back to him; but as she flew towards him, she gained a terrified visage for a second as Marshall's mouth literally became unhinged. She was able to change direction at the last instant, just removing herself from the equation as Marshall chomped down on the light based sword that plagued his shoulder.
Vivi looked on in disbelief as he not only ate the sword, but the wound in his shoulder was healing just after he swallowed the weapon. "Healing!? And he can eat anything?! Is this Gluttony?"
"Wow, the woman with common sense made a common sense based observation!" He leapt for her, attempting to bite her in half. Vivi dodged again and instead Marshall now has a mouth full of cobblestone. He ate that like it was nothing, turning those green eyes back towards Vivi as he licked his lips clean of the latest delicacy. "Ah, I sure wish I had better control of myself. I want bring you in alive, but that won't happen if I devour you! But you sure do look tasty, Vivi!" He yanked the chains that bided him, pulling her ever closer. She sucked her teeth, gaining bearings very quickly but gradually losing the struggle as the heels she dug into the ground slowly moved against her will towards the Sin. "I can't beat him like this. He'll just eat my attacks…or worse, he'll eat me. By the way he's talking too, I don't think he cares about winning these games."
"I'm so happy though, I really am. When you had me locked up and powerless, I couldn't show you what I was truly capable of. I could tell that you thought of me as the weaker member, torturing me to get information out of me just because of that notion, but look at us now, Vivi! I get to demonstrate exactly who you had before you back then! What excitement karma sure brings!" As he spoke, his eyes now turned from a green to a red. Vivi raised a brow and took a step back as she took note of his demeanor to figure out what was coming next. "Don't get me wrong however. Just because I sound excited, doesn't meant that excitement is the only thing I feel right now! I replay those days in that prison daily, and every time I just think about, it truly brings me…"
"Anger…" She finished. "That means, as a sin, he's Wrath right now.." Marshall started laughing. "That's right, and again, reasons like this is why I just hate that I can't control myself because looking at you right now…it really makes me very..very…ANGRY!"
As he shouted, a powerful gust of wind came from his body, causing Vivi to flinch. That was the opening he needed as Marshall then slammed his shoulder directly into her. She was breathless. The wind was taken from her and as Marshall grabbed her by the collar, Vivi couldn't do anything but hold on for dear life as he raised her and then slammed her back into the ground. She couldn't even scream out in pain, the loss of breath from the shoulder charge still affecting her as she laid there with Marshall on top of her. He literally sat on her, his left hand a tight grip on her shoulder and squeezing it to the point it felt like it was going to break into pieces. "This fight is a joke to m, but the principle behind it is all I need to keep going. You think once I beat you, this nightmare will be over?" He asked, Vivi squirming helpless under him whole screaming out in pain. "Wrong. Your nightmare with me is only beginning. I'm going to make you regret living, all while making sure that we're even between us once again. You took something from me, now I'll take something precious from you as well. You ready, Captain of the Council Disciplinary Unit, Vivi!?"
She continued to writhe in pain, but as she felt a tug on the collar of her shirt, Vivi's eyes slowly widened as they trailed upwards to his own pair. She watched them flash back and forth between purple, lust, and red, wrath, until finally they combined in a fusion of the two colors. "He's…he's so hellbent on it that two sins have combined…!? No…I'm in trouble if I don't do something! I have to escape!"
Immediately in an act of desperation, Vivi created an extending pole that slammed right into Marshall's abdomen, pushing him away into a building down the street. With that freedom, the injured Vivi scrambled to her feet and ran the opposite way. "I have to find help! I didn't know he was like this! Crisdelin, Exene, anyone! I need backup!"
As she ran off, a rumbling could be heard behind her but she dared not turn around. Of course it was Marshall, removing the debris from the fallen building as he stood once again. "You did this, Vivi. It's too late to run. I'll chase you down even after this stupid tournament is over! It's only a matter of time until you pay for what you did to me!"
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Gunshots were let loose, and lightning struck with every other second. Laxus and Reve were in the midst of battle. The gunslinger was letting off round after round while the Dragon Slayer took to his lightning body to avoid them all in a zigzag pattern. Laxus wasn't the type to stay on the defensive however, and like a snake he slithered his way in until he was directly beneath Reve. Reforming into his natural state, in came a lightning infused uppercut aimed for the gunslinger's chin. Reve evaded with ease; simply moving his chin out the way by leaning away from the incoming blow. "Precision eyes- no wait!" Laxus looked on as Reve's visage came clear past the lightning. What he usually expected from him, green eyes that locked on to his opponents instantly, were still his normal sapphire colored eyes.
From this position, he gained the feeling that Reve was looking down on him, so Laxus didn't take that very kindly as he reared back his left fist. Crackling with lightning, that large fist aimed directly for Reve's chest. Two pistols crossed over in an X formation was the only thing that stood between Laxus and a direct hit, but the damage was still done as Reve slid backwards from the force behind all that strength. His guns were smoking, and it wasn't from overuse. As Laxus charged in again, Reve took aim once more, firing off his stationery supply of magic bullets from his magic pistols until Laxus arrived before him. The Fairy swung again, but this time Reve spun around it, requipping just as fast as he moved as the raven haired male revealed a sawn-off shotgun already in the midst of powering up before — "Burst Shot!"
Laxus's eyes widened in disbelief, and he didn't have time to counter correctly. Instead as he took the full brunt of the attack with no defenses, the Dragon Slayer clapped his hands together to create a violent electric discharge that sonic-boomed between the two.
Any normal mage would have had his stomach blown to pieces, but it seems Reve knew exactly who he was up against because Laxus, after taking a point blank Burst Shot without any defenses, only went skidding back a couple of meters before regaining his bearings. Holding his smoking abdomen, Laxus watched as the sonic boom he created also did its part with Reve. The gunslinger was sent off his feet though he recovered as well, holding his right temple as his upper body showed the results of that sneak attack. Right side bruised, and even the attire around the shoulder and chest area was torn from the velocity. Reve grit his teeth, holding his ground as Laxus grinned. "Cheap trick for such a head on type of warrior, Laxus."
"It's only cheap to you because it worked. I can name an entire guild that would have saw that coming." He was good at ruffling Reve's feathers it seemed, because the gunslinger wasn't about to take that lying down. Instead, he aimed at the sky and fired, creating another patented classic. "Spread shot!" He shouted, and the blast in the air opened up into three smaller versions of itself, all aimed for Laxus's current position. Instead of avoiding, Laxus created three orbs of his own to counteract. The lightning based spheres stalemated with the Spread Shot, exploding on contact, but with that distraction, Reve appeared in a blur right next to Laxus with a new gun in his possession. "Shit! His Requips are way too fast!" Laxus admitted to himself as he covered himself with his bare arms as White Eclipse's deadly shooter let loose an barrage of bullets that banged against his only line of defense for the moment. They were physically berating his arms, and as seconds went by, Laxus could feel his arms becoming numb with pain, so he created a lightning barrier to stop his unwanted pushback. The barrier was growing and growing, stretching out for Reve even added he stopped shooting. He leapt backwards a few times to keep distance, but from the distance he heard an echoing voice as that barrier now rose overhead. "Lightning Dragon's…. Triumphant Core!"
As he launched the new attack toward Reve, the gunslinger held his position as the assault rifle in his hand disappeared. Instantly it was replaced by another signature gun of his — created for this moment exactly. The Reverse Slayer now rested in his possession, and Reve quickly pulled the lever to his gun, and from the nozzle of his firearm, it inhaled the entirety of Laxus's attack. Once all of the contents was eaten, Reve looked up with a grin on his face as he could see the sweat bead from Laxus's head at this distance. "The big banger Laxus Dreyar still hasn't learned his lesson after all this time, huh? Your tricks are the same, and so is your mentality. What a shame, you didn't grow any! I shouldn't expect much from Fairy Tail anymore I guess."
"You want tricks? I don't have many, that's true." Laxus stated, but as he did, he began bulking up to the point that he lost his jacket, and was now ripping through his shirt thanks to his acquired mass. "I'm more of the type to polish what I already have!" As he spoke, his size doubled, bringing back a favorite from when he fought with Natsu those years ago. The Dragon Slayer was in peak form here, towering over Reve as lightning danced around his frame. The gunslinger stood armed and ready, but even he could feel Laxus's magic power hit through the roof. "Now, show me what's got you so high and mighty against the strongest in Fairy Tail..
…Reve Volver!"
