Chapter 120: The Last Leg
1. Empyrean Dawn: 106
2. The Council: 87
3. Twilight Zone 87
4. White Eclipse: 83
5. Mermaid Heel: 59
6. Quatro Cerberus: 51
7. Sabertooth/Black Phoenix: 44
8. Fairy Tail: 38
9. White Eclipse B: 30
"My calculations were inaccurate. There was in fact a small chance of Evanee losing, and they managed."
"Thanks, super computer!" Lance mocked, patting her on the head before leading the White Eclipse faithful in cheers for their sacrificial comrades. "They did it! They beat the monster Ace! That's my hero Tyson!" Lance was overjoyed just like the rest of them, he and Evelyn hugging tightly as they jumped up and down in happiness. "It makes it even better that Cygnus was credited the final blow, because now…" Selene turned back to the board. "We're only down twenty three. One more K.O. Will give us ten bonus points, and then Zalen is fighting Hubert and Skye is against Kagura. Both are worth ten. This is it.. we've cornered the big game. If we can just win those two fights…"
"UGHH! Now it's nerve wrecking all over again!" Lance admitted, gripping his hair frantically. "Don't worry." He turned back to see Sidney now speaking with a confident drawl. "The odds are in our favor. Because /he/ is loose out there. Cygnus refused to accept his help, but I know someone who desperately needs it right now.."
"I grow tired of these games. I'll go back to being a criminal, like I was born to be. I'll spray Empyrean Dawn's name with the blood from you skull, all over this cobblestone pavement." Hubert held his Scarlet Salvo to the back of Zalen's head, right at the nape. As his finger prepared to squeeze the trigger to his own magic weapon, the corner of his glasses began beeping with numbers and arrows only he could read. It was warning him of an incoming projectile at a high speed, and that was enough for him to pull his attention away from Zalen as simultaneously turned and leapt back away from his prey. "A bullet?" He observed in question, watching a blue aura pass directly by him — heading directly for Zalen now. Something caught his eye however…
His eyes widened as he now noticed Zalen's hands covered in brick. The architect coveted his hands the instant Hubert took his eyes off of him, but what did that do for the Eclipse member now?
Everything.
"Thanks, Reve." Zalen mumbled to himself, allowing the blue covered bullet to slam off his brick covered hands, literally ricocheting off and towards Hubert. "Impossi-" Hubert's single word was cut off but a piercing strike to the shoulder, and as Reve looked on from a great distance thanks to his Target Eyes, the gunslinger showed no a stint of hesitation to the criminal with murder on his mind as he fell to the ground.
The crowd cheered at the amazing display of teamwork, but Hubert was still conscious — merely on his back as he roared in pain in a volume that smothered Crocus. Zalen gave a sigh of relief, standing back to his feet as he walked over to tower over his weapon less opponent. "You're pretty sick." He scolded Hubert, who wasn't listening but instead was trying to cover the small hole in his shoulder. "You tried to kill me over a competition. Making a case for freedom surely isn't your strong suit."
As Zalen stood with a hand towards Hubert, ready to finish him off for the win, the wind behind him picked up surprisingly fast. It caught his attention, and before he knew it… Xaviere appeared before him with a right fist crammed against Hubert's nose. The Architect Mage was stunned speechless, looking on with wide eyes as Xavi slowly looked back with a grin mixed with heinous yet domineering vibes.
"Wh…
WHAT A TURN OF EVENTS!" Chapati shouted. As the crowd cheered its loudest so far, and as Kemuri looked over towards Kaiser with a smug grin — the atmosphere became thick as an injured Zalen now stood across from a fresh Xaviere. "The Council team just stole ten points from White Eclipse, putting their comeback victory in jeopardy! What a play by Xaviere!"
"So that's your plan this whole time?" Erza asked as she heard Chapati over the intercoms. Exene continued to pressure Titania, a smug look upon her features as she remained deadlocked with Erza. "What's it to you? Fairy Tail lost these games a long time ago. You should be happy that we're stealing victory away from your rivals!"
"That I am!" Erza replied with a smirk of her own. That caused Exene to raise a brow before laughing as the two reached another stalemate. "You fairies sure are interesting! Come on, Titania! Your guild's shitty score doesn't mean you have to hold back on me! Put me on the list of great women you've humbled!"
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"Dropping your guard? How annoying, and after such an intense duel." Kagura stated as she stood across a kneeling Skye. The news of Hubert falling to Xaviere instead of Zalen caught her off guard, allowing Kagura to land a potent strike. She grimaced, holding her side where she was deeply cut, but the assassin was able to make her way to her feet as she glanced at the scoreboard. The Council now had 97 points. One part of White Eclipse's plan was intact. That was to quell the leader's momentum. Empyrean Dawn was down to two members. Marshall and Ano. One was an enigma, the other, barely a fighter yet more of a support mage. Unfortunately, the second priority of White Eclipse's plan was now in peril. Hubert's points were stolen from them. Meaning that Skye's job to merely stall Kagura out was now turned to a more than necessary victory. White Eclipse was one KO away from the ten point bonus, twenty three points away from a tie with the first place team, and twenty four away from achieving their dream. As Reve ran as fast as he could after surveying the area, he had to make a choice. Zalen or Skye. East or west, and as his time to make a decision was up..
Reve chose west.
"The Council's Captain is still at large." A bandaged up Reiss said as he sat with the rest of his guild. "If we can beat Crisdelin, it'll be like the Hubert thing never mattered."
"Impossible at this point." Selene broke the news to him, causing the rookie class to look her way. "Skye and Zalen are injured. Reve is pretty banged up too with his fight against Laxus. He has to go help or we'll be losing both of them. Whichever he doesn't choose, we most likely will be seeing them eliminated. With Cygnus out and Takeru occupied with Natsu and Twilight Zone, we don't have anyone to take on their captain." Her own explanation caused Selene to suck her teeth in response. "Takeru joining the free for all just to fight Natsu was selfish!"
"I wouldn't go that far." Luke added, never taking his eyes off the free for all. "There's only one person who can keep Salamander's attention no matter the stakes. We didn't need miracle boy ruining the game-plan, so I feel like Takeru was a must. It's just unfortunate for Zalen that the council had their own evil scheme. I cant believe we forgot all about the second place team in midst of the chaos…"
The rookies looked on until finally Reiss let loose a sigh, leaning back in his seat as Elizabeth continued to look everyone over.
Cygnus stood alone, watching with arms crossed as he kept eyes on his remaining comrades. "I know my efforts better not have been in vain, you four. I trained too hard to be a sacrificial lamb to a losing team. Make this count."
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"Hang on!" Reve shouted, turning another corner to head to his destination. As he did, unknowingly his back was turned to the one of the remaining captains in the Grand Magic Games. Crisdelin, the captain of the Council team, was seen holding Ethan, a member of Black Phoenix by his collar, and the sight wasn't pretty. The kid was obviously defeated, but the council hound as she's known by refused to release him Sky her he couldn't be counted for defeat. Instead, his face was completely mauled and bloodied. He would continuously float in and out of consciousness, only to groan in immeasurable pain when he was coherent. Crisdelin's attention was on her potential new prey, Reve, who didn't even notice her. A mixture of excitement and the feeling of being disrespected came from the blonde, and as she took a step forward to chase after the gunslinger like a hound would to it's target, she dropped Ethan Star, allowing him to hit the ground, Ethan was instantly counted out — without any hesitation.
"I know with him, I won't be disappointed." Crisdelin licked her lips, cracking her knuckles as she gradually dropped to a readied stance. She was prepared to take… but the second she moved forward, her exposed jaw took the brunt of a lightning infused punch, sending her flying into the nearest wall. Pissed off from the surprise attack, she immediately popped back up from the hole in the wall her body created, but that anger quelled the second she realized who hit her.
As Chiara Taranto crouched down and held Ethan in her arms, tearing up as she called for him repeatedly with no response, Asuka stood between them and Crisdelin, and the omen-like anger on her face was indescribable. Her fists were tight, her body tense, and her ability to listen to reason was nonexistent. "What….did you do?"
Crisdelin smirked. "Hm? He wanted a —"
Before Cris could finish her words, Asuka appeared beneath her. Lightning dancing around her body, she aimed an uppercut for the Council woman's chin. With wide eyes, she was able to dodge Asuka's punch, but the energy around it was enough to Crisdelin to recognize just what she was dealing with. "You little twerp. You want to join your friend there, yeah!? I'll give you a matching set of broken bones so you two can be twins."
Her words, and the tone of them simply pissed Asuka off. "Chiara. Get out of here once they come pick up Ethan…because…" She then turned back to Crisdelin. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
"Ha!" Crisdelin laughed, yet dropping into a fighting stance. "I've heard that plenty of times in my lifetime! Your anger means shit to me, so get ready for a pummeling you shitty kid!"
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"It's finally our time to win this thing." Xavi boasted as he stared Zalen down with a smug visage. "All five of us are still active, and now the numbers have dwindled down enough to where it is still too crowded; but still enough for us to take absolute victory. Ten points, and we win. With your captain beaten up from his fight with Laxus, this Grand Magic Games indeed belongs to the Council! Thank you for taking care of Hubert for me, and I apologize for taking credit for all of you hard work, but you're supposed to seize every opportunity possible, and technically it was Reve that did the important part. That's one very tricky gunslinger. I've always wanted to fight him straight up, but the plan wouldn't allow it. Though I'm sure he's on the way here now to save his favorite guild mate. Think you can hang on that long, Zalen Castle?"
Zalen took a single slide back with his right foot, preparing himself for whatever was coming. Heavy pants followed by a gulp took place as he refused to take his eyes off of Xaviere. "He's got some weird magic. Two of them if I'm correct." He thought to himself. "One has something to do with the wind..or something like it. The other…teleportation? I don't know…! During his event with Jaxon he got around the area instantly, but he even said he couldn't explain what this guy was doing, yet he just relied on the winds to give him direction. When we planned this out..Xaviere was definitely the monkey wrench in our plans, but the odds of me running into him…I didn't put that into the math!"
"You're doing a lot of thinking over there!" Xavi exclaimed. "Lets get this show on the road before your hero shows up!"
Zalen didn't have time to dispute because in the next instant, without any cues of him leaving his current position, Xavi appeared with a leaping knee to Zalen's nose and it cleanly rocked him. "H-How!?" He asked, unwillingly falling to his back. As he fell, he looked to the left and outstretched his arm. In one motion he came to a realization as the building to his left began to shake and rumble. "So that's it…." He mumbled weakly before closing his left hand into a fist. Off that action, that same shaking building toppled over, aiming to fall on top of Xavi. "Hm?" He inquired at the shadow looming over him. As the building fell, Xavi was now yards away from the crash. The rubble separated himself from Zalen, causing the council member to laugh. "Zalen Castle the architect mage. You can build anything out of any structural like foundation. How unique of you. So you've set up traps around here? Blending in with the Crocus skyline.. immaculate strategy, but that's a joke for me."
"I…would have hit you… if it wasn't only half a building that fell..Heh. I know how you love so fast now.. and without any cues that you're moving."
That garnered Xavi's attention, raising a brow as Zalen exposed him. "You have the magic ability… to temporarily reduce space. You're pocketing space.. so you're not moving at an incredible speed, but..you're simply reducing the space between us to make it seem that way. That's what Jaxon meant when he said he relied on the winds. Back at the first event, when you were competing with him, you leapt towards Jaxon even though you were no where near him, causing the winds to pick up before you even showed up. That must have taken a lot of magic out of you that day, to cut off the space between two corners of the area just because you wanted to show off and go for Jaxon instead of picking up the win with anyone else.. heh. White Eclipse does that to people."
Xavi stared for a few seconds, sucked his teeth, but then retracted to a smug look. "Space condensing. That's me alright. Nice job figuring it out, building mage, but it won't protect you from taking this loss. Since you figured out that, can you tell me what my secondary magic is? Here, I'll give you a demonstration! Pulse Cannon!" Xavi was crouched with his right fist clenched tightly behind his hip, and he planned on firing directly for Zalen, but just as the architect explained earlier about reducing space, the second half of his building came crashing down at a stronger velocity. It headed directly for Xavi, which caused the Council Warden to simply grin. "Just because you know my abilities…" He began as the building crashed. It almost looked like it was on top of him this time, until he appeared standing directly over Zalen. "…Doesn't mean you're equipped to beat me!"
"Huh!?" He turned, launching his cocked fist the opposite direction of himself and Zalen, just to collide with an incoming beam of magic. As the two blasts quelled into nothing, behind the aftermath was the gunslinger himself, holding up a pistol, slightly panting as he kept sapphire eyes glued to Xavi. Xavi did the same, which caused Zalen to act! Hands pressed to the cobblestone ground, a large iron tower rose from the ground, slamming into Xavi's stomach and sending him upwards in a violent manner.
"Zalen!" Reve shouted as he made his way to his feet. "No time! Listen! His magic! He isn't a speed demon, but he has the ability to — "
Zalen couldn't finish his statement in time. Just like that, without any cues, Xaviere was before Zalen with his fist clutched tightly. "Pulse Napalm!"
An uppercut this time, and just as the attack sounded, barely visible pulse rings that distorted the air around them slammed into Zalen's abdomen, sending him soaring high into the air as Reve could only watch. "What?!" The gunslinger shouted, watching Zalen, but as he turned back to Xavi, he was gone. He looked back up again to spot him already hovering above Zalen who could barely breathe after having the wind knocked out of him. "Zalen!" He shouted, and the architect opened his eyes to see Xavi winding up again. Once more, stray bullets interrupted Xavi's finishing blow, causing the warden to vanish again before appearing on the ground. Regaining himself, Zalen caught himself with the iron tower he created earlier, sliding down it while coughing from the previous blow.
"He cuts off space! Only temporarily!" Zalen was able to get out. Xavi sucked his teeth, grinning right after. "Guess the cat's out of the bag."
"So that's why he's fast. That's why there's no tell tale sign of it happening." Reve was quickly putting it together now, keeping his eyes on Xavi as he and Zalen slowly surrounded him.
"Kagura and Crisdelin. Both of them are the remaining ten pointers. I haven't seen Crisdelin at all but she's still active…" Reve began wracking his own brain. "Skye…she has to — no — she will beat Kagura, giving us twenty..but we'll still be four points away. That's the man before us, and…someone's missing. A few people are missing, but I can't put my finger on it—"
"Reve!" Zalen shouted, waking the gunslinger out of his daydream just in time. He slid out the way as barely visible pulse waves slammed into the ground before him. Now, as he found his way back next to Zalen, the gunslinger and the architect stood across from their biggest challenge yet. Xavi simply held out his right hand — magic radiating to threatening levels as the three readied themselves for one more fight.
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And just blocks away, a literally electrified Asuka of Black Phoenix stood off against the Council Captain Crisdelin. A rumbling occurred between the two. Crisdelin was smirking, but she was already pissed off from the cheap shot she took from Asuka earlier. Asuka on the other hand, was in an emotional enhancement for a much more important reason, and that was the want to avenge her best friend and guild mate, Ethan Star. Without any words left to share between the two, the Council Captain, and the rookie from Black Phoenix collided with right forearms, creating a powerful shock wave that shook the area around them to the core. The fight was on..
Asuka Ichiro versus Crisdelin Shepard.
