Chapter 128: Changing of the Guard
"We're absolutely powerless!" Minerva pointed out in frustration. Her clenched fists only tightened as she, the rest of Sabertooth and Vivi could do nothing but watch a brutally injured Zalen square off against Empyrean Dawn's last man standing; Ano Lyrai. The only way to rid of the EMP, was to take down Ano, but what could she do without her magic or strength? Thoughts were sprouting like weeds in her mind, the rush of negativity eating Minerva alive as she bared her teeth in anger. "Helpless. I hate.. I hate feeling helpless! This is the third time! Between Sting and Erza saving me…and now…! How many times will my body fail me!? I'm Minerva Orland, dammit!"
As her temper got the best of her gradually, familiar black markings began to sprout over Minerva. Before anyone was aware, Minerva Orland was once more in shape of when she was caught in the pods of Tartarus. The Etherious she absorbed when being turned remained with her, but more importantly…
She could fight again.
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The fated two stood across from each other, but for the second passing, it was only Erza who remained vigilant as Reve dropped his guard for the time being. In his right hand, a gun formed, but it wasn't a hostile firearm. No, this gun was white, and had a red plus sign imprinted on it. He pressed the gun to his shoulder and pulled the trigger, causing an exhausting sound as the minuscule damage he received earlier disappeared. He then did the unthinkable — tossing the gun over to Erza, who was a lot more damaged than her opponent. She caught it, but simply looked at the gun in suspicion before looking back towards Reve. "Don't stare, just use it. I don't want any excuses here, and you're wasting my time by not obliging. My team needs me, so hurry up."
The gunslinger's words caused her to grin, and Erza indeed followed instructions by placing the gun to her body to heal. She could feel her wounds evaporate, almost as if she's had a days worth of sleep. She was loosening up her stiffened limbs, turning back to Reve as he caused the gun to disappear. This was by no means sympathy for Erza, but an even bigger act of war, as Reve gave unspoken word that he needed her at full strength to prove that he was better than his biggest rival to date, and Erza understood that fully, also feeling the same way — especially after her speech about the guilds. So with both of them healed equally, the two started walking towards each other unarmed. Both sets of fists clenched tightly as their teeth bared. The drums of battle played in the atmosphere as the two deadliest competitors left met in the middle of their trails with two potent right fists to each opposing jawlines. The fight between Erza and Reve was on, and from beginning to end, it was filled with what everyone involved dreamt it would be.
The two punches landed square, but as Erza fell backwards, she came to a realization. "That punch had magic behind it..I even heard a gunshot after it…" She said, catching her teetering body. Yet, Reve's body mirrored hers from her natural punch, catching himself with a grin as he wiped his bruised jaw. "Of course.. my guns are limitless, but over the year I've been workin on my weaknesses. My strengths and endurances. Of course it'll take more than a year to catch up to you freaks in such departments, but until I reach that pinnacle…" Reve cocked his arms like they were guns, creating the sounds of two guns being cocked as he raised them like a boxer. "I've decided to turn my body into a gun as well. As any Wizard should do when he trains for a period of time, Erza. I've evolved. What about you?"
"Heh..!" She gave a wicked look as she curled up her hands again. "Why don't we find out!?"
Reve launched a left hook, and as Erza dodge it, she could feel the small book behind her ear, as of gunpowder was just set off. It wasn't a bluff after all, and that just made it more exciting as she fired back with a straight kick that was met by Reve's own. The recoil sent them both sliding backwards. "Legs too!?"
"Legs too!" Reve repeated in exclamation as he rushed back in, swinging left and rights that Erza either dodged or parried before scoring a right straight punch of her own. Reve's head snapped back, only to be introduced with a left uppercut that took him off his feet for a second. He landed back on the soles of his feet, but Reve was disoriented enough to Erza to rush in for what looked to be clean hit number three. As she swung her wild right punch however, Reve not only ducked underneath, but grabbed Titania by her legs to raise her off the ground, only to slam her into the Crocus street spine first.
"LUUUCHA! SPINE BUSTER!" The masked wrestler of a mage El Rayo shouted, everyone new to him looking his way. Riley gave a small smile. "Did you show him that?" She asked. El Rayo turned with a thumbs up. "Of course! That's why it was so clean!"
It caused her to laugh a bit. "How about teaching the new kids your moves then?"
"Yeah!" Reiss shouted, joining in with the others. "I need to learn moves like that! We all do!"
El Rayo rubbed the back of his head, laughing embarrassingly while he was being crowded. "Aye, I can do that for you guys when we get back home!"
Waiston was grinning, arms folded over his chest as he explained Reve's growth. "El Rayo, Kanade, they both helped Reve with his close combat skills. Everything right now, is a product of those two."
"Huh..? Never thought he'd take the time to learn from his peers." Cygnus shot in, never taking his eyes off the fight. Waiston laughed. "To be honest, me neither, but this change is a good one, yeah?"
"We'll see.."
As Erza was slammed into the ground, Reve wanted to badly to follow up with a stomp to her head, but she caught his foot quickly, pushing him away as she scrambled to her feet. With no wasted motion, the two met each other once again. A slew of punches and kicks were thrown at each other, some landing and some guarded, but none were dodged. Prominent strikes from Erza connected, as well as for Reve. An elbow strike to the temple by Titania, only matched by a haymaker to the cheekbone by the gunslinger. The potent strikes would rock each other, but neither side would give space as they continued to exchange blows. Quietly, this became a contest of who would draw their weapon first, Reve or Erza. They both had an inkling that whoever did draw first would be at a disadvantage for the rest of the fight, and so they were headstrong in proving the other one to fold first.
"It goes without saying, that you fairies are nauseating when it comes to never giving up, even on the littlest things."
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Reve." Erza quipped as the two stood ready for their next go around.
"Oh? How quick with the retort you are, Erza? Did you pick that up from me?" Reve asked in a snarky tone.
"Shut up." She replied with daggers in her eyes. The two then rendezvoused again, and Erza broke free of the cycle of exchanged blows with a powerful knee to Reve's abdomen, causing him to clench his stomach as he fell to a knee. He looked up work bared teeth to see Erza with a condescending look whilst winding up a right hook. Reve leaned away from it, narrowly avoiding the punch as he returned fired back with a right punch of his own. Erza parried it, placing a straight kick directly into his sternum and knocking the gunslinger off his feet once again.
With the wind knocked out of him, Reve feel to his seat as Erza lunged towards him. His eyes widened, causing the gunslinger to quickly scramble out the way, but Erza wasn't the type to allow him any space. She would lunge again off of light feet aiming a downward fist that aimed for his chest once more, but Reve once again was able to desperately scramble out the way. All of this scrambling wasn't helping his pride however, and he could feel the tides turning; trying to square up against someone who was more adept in close combat than he was, and as Erza scored yet another strike — this time a powerful straight punch to the chin, Reve's anger started to take over. Three unanswered jabs struck his jawline, the third snapping his head backwards, and as Erza grabbed the gunslinger by the collar and flipped him over her shoulder, a loud cry of pain released.
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"Erza?!" Gray called out, turning away from the fight at hand. The ice maker was then reintroduced to the brawl as Esme's sword struck across his chest, causing his own echoes of pain. "She's not here! I am! If you want to root for her, let me help you to the sidelines!"
"Oh shut it, miss high and mighty!" Gray shouted in retaliation, holding onto his chest as he created a shield of ice to cut the two off. Esmerelda easily disposed of that however, kicking directly through the ice like fragile glass and placing that same boot against his wounded chest to send him tumbling backwards. She wanted to give pursuit, but the former council knight was forced to turn about face and meet up with the incoming assassin. Her broad sword connected with the Demon Claymore blade. The stalemate held up between the two until Skye flipped to the side, landing and lunging towards Esme in one fluid motion. She kept her blade in her left hand, but in her right, blue lightning began to surge in her palm. Esmerelda was taken aback, but before Skye could land that electrifying strike, Gray hindered the process by forcing Skye to back off with a plethora of ice arrows shooting her way.
"Fairy Tail doesn't have a dog in this fight! So why are you trying to halt my victory against Esmerelda so desperately?" Skye knew that answer, but she asked him anyways. Gray simply smirked, taking in deep, heavy breaths as he looked up to the scoreboard. "What if I told you… I'm a Twilight Zone fan for now?"
Skye arched a brow, but Esmerelda spoke aloud as she turned back to Gray, still annoyed. "How far you fairies have fallen. I have no qualms with either guild, but your want to tear each other down is absolutely filthy, more so on Fairy Tail's side. Even if I was able to clear the entire board now, Black Phoenix would not become champions this year, but I've decided right here and now, to make sure that neither of you receive the outcome you desire. Without any doubt, I'll make sure neither of you two survive this battle. Guard yourselves, because here I come!"
"Tough talk coming from my prey!" Skye shouted, rushing towards her once again. Before she even rushed her, Skye swung her blade upwards, creating a powerful slash of black Etherious that flew towards Esmerelda. She parried it with her blade, pushed back as her heels would grind into the marble ground beneath her until she halted all momentum. Overpowering the swing, Esme launched Skye's attack right into the incoming Gray Fullbuster! Taking the powerful attack in stride, the Devil Slayer landed on his feet, slamming his hands into the ground to create a coating of ice that would spread throughout. Both Esme and Skye took to the air, one high and one low as they both lunged for the Fairy Tail member. "Bringer!" He shouted, creating a giant hammer that rushed towards the both of them. With Esme distracted by the hammer, Skye was able to elevate, slamming a kick directly into her sternum, dealing damage but at the same time kicking her away from the incoming attack. Skye then used that momentum to dive towards Gray, landing before him with her blade coiled behind her, ready to slice through a wide open Ice Maker.
"Tch! She's too fast!" He admitted to himself, but as he braced himself for impact, nothing happened. Instead, Skye stood before him with no weapon in hand, confused herself as a blur slid right past her. "My sword?!" She shouted, turning to the culprit that just entered the fray. It was none other than the S class of Twilight Zone, arriving just like he planned with Flynn. He swung the sword in his hand before stabbing it into the ground. "I'm sure only you can handle this thing. I just wanted to make a proper introduction with my Thief Magic. Thank you three for waiting. Now, shall we begin the final curtain call?"
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Revisiting the loud cry of pain from earlier, Erza now rested on one knee with a giant bruise on her left side from gunfire while Reve sat opposite of her, panting heavily with heavy bruising over his features — holding a Wingman as he called it — a powerful pistol second to the revolver itself. That direct blow put Reve in the lead physically, but the look on his tired features showed that Erza indeed won the first round, and truth was shown that even after a year of training, he wasn't ready to meet her in strictly close combat. It stung, and they both knew it, taking psychological damage on both sides. Erza, a fool for trusting the Eclipse member to a fair knuckle to knuckle duel, and Reve, hitting realization that she was still the superior fighter. The two slowly stood back to a full stance, and Erza placed a single blade in her hands as the lack of words said everything they needed to know. Erza slowly took a readied stance as Reve raised his gun at the same pace.
Round two was about to begin..
