Hi everyone, thanks again for your patience. Before we begin however, I'd like to ask for a moment of silence for the passing of one Brad Venable, the voice actor for Griffin in Devil May Cry 5.
To quote Dante "Rest in peace, little chicken. It's been a bash."
And now that is all done, this is one chapter I really have been wanting to write for a while. I hope that it's to all your liking. With that being said, let's get started.
Turbulent Showdown! Dante vs. Laxus!
Lucy, Trish, and Michelle all sat around a table in the guildhall, having finished reading their fifth book in an attempt to decipher the runes on the memento that Jude had left. But so far, they had found nothing.
Hearing Lucy give a disappointing moan, Michelle spoke. "Oh, don't let it get you down Lucy, I'm sure you can find out what it means."
"Well, it's not making things easy for us." Trish commented as she held up a piece of paper that had the symbols written on it. "I don't know what kind of language this is, but it's not anything I've seen in the Underworld."
"But if the language isn't demonic, then why was it giving off demonic energy?" Lucy asked.
"You got me." Trish said as she massaged her forehead. "I'm still wondering how your dad even had something like that."
"Maybe it was something Sparda left for him." Michelle suggested. "I mean, he was Lucy's uncle, and by extension, Mr. Jude's brother-in-law."
"True…. I just wish they wouldn't be so cryptic with this kind of stuff." Lucy commented.
"We've taken a new job request." Erza said, walking up to the table alongside Gray and Lady.
"There's some bad guys stealing gold that we need to catch." Gray revealed.
"Raincheck, guys? We're kinda in the middle of something." Trish said.
"Still can't figure that thing out?" Lady asked. "You guys have been at that thing for three whole days."
"It has proven to be more difficult than we anticipated." Michelle replied.
"Where are Natsu and Dante?" Erza asked.
"They, Happy, and Lisanna went into the forest to train." Lucy replied.
"Well, if that's the case, then we'll be leaving." Erza stated.
"Cool." Gray said before his eyes widened in surprise. "Wait! Hang on a sec! When you say 'we', do you mean just the three of us?"
"Do you have a problem with that?" Erza questioned.
Lady shrugged. "Eh, I'm cool with it."
Gray shook his head as well, though there was an awkward look on his face. "No, no problem at all."
"If we hurry, we may be back before nightfall." Erza said before turning around to leave. "So, let's move." Finding objections, Gray and Lady both followed their comrade out the door. However, nobody seemed to notice that Juvia was watching them from behind the request board.
'This is a major problem, Gray!' Juvia thought in distress. 'You should have insisted that I come along with you! How can my darling be so cruel?!' She thought as comic tears welled up in her eyes and she accidentally crushed a side of the request board with her hand.
East Forest
Natsu threw a series of fire-balls at Dante, who leapt back to avoid most of the blasts. As he leapt back however, Lisanna, in her She-Cat Take-Over form tried to get the jump on him and slash with her claws, only for Dante to quickly bring up Rebellion to block her slashes before swiping with his blade to send Lisanna flying back before she flipped up and landed on her feet. Natsu then went on the attack again, lashing out a fiery punch at Dante, which he was able to swerve and avoid before slamming the flat of Rebellion into Natsu's back to send him rolling across the ground and into the recovered Lisanna.
"Come on, Natsu! Lisanna! Fight like your life depends on it!" Happy exclaimed.
"You just gonna be a cheerleader the whole time or you gonna actually help us?!" Natsu exclaimed in comic anger.
"You sure you guys don't wanna step it up a notch?" Dante teased. "Why not come at me with that Dragon Take Over?" He asked Lisanna specifically.
"Because I don't want to become too reliant on it." Lisanna replied as she stood up. "Back with Grimoire Heart, it was pretty much the only Take Over I could use to even stand against the Kin of Purgatory, and by the end, I was too exhausted. I need to work with my transformations, so I don't lose control."
"Okay, makes sense." Dante nodded. "So, let's keep going. You kids ready?"
"Whenever you are!" Natsu smirked as he and Lisanna both leapt at Dante again.
Meanwhile, in another part of the East Forest, Laxus walked seemingly aimlessly through the foliage. There was no specific destination in mind for him, and he really didn't have a reason to be in the East Forest. It just seemed like a good place to be in for a while before he would head out. However, the former member of Fairy Tail soon realized he wasn't alone.
"What do you want?" Laxus questioned to a Forest Vulcan that approached him with a maniacal grin and chuckle.
"I was just thinking about how much I wanna settle the score with those Fairy Tail losers, and all of a sudden, one of em walks on my turf." The Vulcan sneered.
"Monkey's got a bone to pick?" Laxus glared.
"Yeah, I gotta pick which one I wanna break first! I think I'll start with your face!" The Vulcan pulled its fist back ready to punch Laxus, whose body was already surging with lightning.
"You're in for the shock of your life!" Laxus stated before he shot a powerful lightning bolt at the Vulcan, electrocuting it so bad that it screamed in pain while making its skeleton visible.
The resulting lightning bolt that shot up into the sky however drew the attention of other individuals who just so happened to be nearby. One group consisted of Wendy, Modeus, and Carla; another was Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen, and even Gajeel who appeared to be alone.
The bolt of lightning even went noticed by Dante, Natsu, Lisanna, and Happy, enough to distract them from their sparing session.
"Whoa… was that Trish?" Lisanna asked.
"No, that wasn't her." Dante stated. Of course, he could tell the difference, he worked with Trish for a long time so he'd be able to tell her power apart from any other type of magic or demonic lightning.
"But I know whose it was." Natsu said with a serious expression. "That was Laxus."
"What? Are you sure, Natsu?" Happy asked.
"Positive." The Salamander confirmed.
"I thought the old man didn't let him back into the guild when we got back from Tenrou." Dante recalled.
"He didn't." Lisanna replied. "He let Laxus celebrate our return with everyone but then he left right after. What's he doing out here?"
"Let's go find out." Natsu stated as he ran off, with Dante right behind him, followed by Lisanna, who had changed back to normal, and Happy who flew alongside them.
As the group ran through the forest, they happen to cross paths with Gajeel who just so happened to be running in the same direction.
"What's up Metalhead?" Natsu asked.
"None of your business, Flame-Brain!" Gajeel replied.
"Oh boy, here we go." Dante sighed as the group continued to run, though they slowed their pace to behind the two bickering Dragon Slayers, not intending to get involved in the ensuing scuffle.
"Are you going somewhere?" Natsu questioned.
"Why? Are you?" Gajeel questioned back as they picked up the pace, turning whatever this was into a race.
"I asked you first, didn't I?!" Natsu argued.
"Yeah?! Who cares?!" Gajeel countered.
"You ain't following me!" Natsu exclaimed as they locked hands, while still running.
"I don't wanna! So, get lost!" Gajeel exclaimed back as they stopped running to bunt their heads at each other and growl like a pair of rabid dogs.
"Come on you two, knock it off!" Lisanna scolded the pair.
"Aye! We gotta find out what that random lighting-strike was about!" Happy added.
"What? I already told you it was Laxus, didn't I?" Natsu reminded. "I'm gonna put the smackdown on him!"
"Seriously? You just wanna pick a fight with the guy?" Dante said with an annoyed sweatdrop.
"Some things never change." Lisanna sighed with a reminiscent smile.
"Please, you don't have a snowball's chance in hell against him. Remember last time?" Gajeel reminded Natsu. "Even with me giving you a major helping hand, he still beat the ever-loving snot out of ya." Gajeel finished with a snicker.
"Was it really that bad?" Lisanna asked Happy.
"Aye." The blue Exceed confirmed. "They both ended up in full-body casts by the time it was over."
"Oh? Well now you got me interested." Dante said with an intrigued smile.
"I'm a whole lot stronger now than I was back then!" Natsu shouted as a fire appeared in the back of his mouth. "I'll beat him with my own two hands!"
"Not if I get to him first!" Gajeel exclaimed.
"Whose beating who again?"
The group looked in surprise to see the source of that voice was the person in question. "Laxus!" Natsu, Dante, Lisanna, and Gajeel all exclaimed at the same time.
"Whoa! That lightning really was him after all!" Happy exclaimed.
"Laxus!" Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen also exclaimed as they ran onto the scene as well.
"It would seem that he's not alone, either." Freed acknowledged, noticing the presence of their fellow Fairy Tail members.
"What's going on?" Bickslow questioned.
"There's nothing going on." Their former leader stated.
"Have you been living out in the woods this entire time?" Natsu asked Laxus.
"Been here ever since that whole mess at Tenrou." He answered. "Not sure why, just wandering."
"Hey speaking of that, thanks again for helping us out back there. Really saved our lives." Lisanna smiled. "Even if you're not a part of Fairy Tail anymore, it's still good to see you."
Laxus had a small smile on his face as well. "Yeah, you too."
Gajeel gave a cocky smirk. "If you're this close, you should come back to the guild already."
Laxus' smile faded into a look of minor annoyance. "Why's that, have you been missing me?"
"Well, the three thunder stooges over there sure have." Dante pointed out to the Thunder Legion. "As for me… well, I've heard all the stories about the infamous Laxus, how you're supposed to be Fairy Tail's bigshot next to Gildarts, and that actually gets me excited." He said with a smirk. "So what do you say? Wanna go a few rounds?"
"What?! Like hell! I call dibs!" Natsu complained.
"It's only fair." Dante replied. "You guys already got a chance to fight him, but I never did. So what do you say, Laxus?"
Laxus however didn't seem to be as interested. "Hmmp, you really want me to take the bait, don't ya? Dante, was it? Me against the Son of Sparda. Think I'll pass, I got better things to do." He turned around and prepared to leave.
"You got a date or something? Or are you just scared?" Dante challenged.
"What?" Laxus questioned, turning back with a minor glare.
"You had no problem taking on a genocidal dark guildmaster and a giant murderous dragon. So, what's a puny half-demon like me got on ya?" Dante said, purposely trying to provoke him. "Or maybe your not as hype as the guild made you out to be."
"You'd be wise to mind your tongue, Dante." Freed advised, but Dante didn't appear to be listening as he flashed Laxus a challenging grin.
Laxus gave a small growl before he smirked. "Okay, fine."
"That's more like it." Dante stated as he had already drawn Rebellion.
"Fine, you can start." Natsu relented. "But when he kicks your ass Dante, I'm next!"
"And I call dibs right after." Gajeel added.
"Sorry, but you ain't laying a finger on him!" Bickslow stepped up with his teammates.
"You'll have to go through the Thunder Legion!" Evergreen declared.
"Laxus' fate and our own shall never again be torn asunder!" Freed exclaimed as comic tears fell from his eyes.
"No." Laxus stopped his old team from stepping in as he cracked his knuckles with an eager grin. "I think I can take this clown all by myself."
"So, I'm a clown, huh?" Dante smirked as he twirled Rebellion in his hands. "You're gonna eat those words."
"Bring it." Laxus' body already began to surge with lightning.
Sensing that this could end badly, Lisanna looked ready to step in, but somebody had already beaten her too it.
"Wait! Hold on!" Everyone turned around in surprise to see it was Wendy who had spoken up with Modeus and Carla right behind her.
"Wendy? What's up?" Dante asked.
"If you guys are really gonna go through with this, you gotta make sure that it's a special occasion!" Wendy exclaimed.
"I don't follow you." Natsu said.
"What are you talking about?" Gajeel also questioned.
"The match will take place, tomorrow!" Wendy stated with a tone of finality in her voice, something that took the group by surprise.
Dante shrugged. "Fine, have it your way, I can wait." He then turned to Laxus. "There's a large clearing about five miles east of here. Meet me there tomorrow at noon, that way we can go all out and not worry about collateral damage."
"That's fine with me, and I'm next right after Dante!" Natsu told Laxus as well.
"And when they're finished, it'll be my turn." Gajeel added.
"Sounds like a plan." Laxus accepted as he turned around to walk away.
As everyone else began to go their separate ways, Wendy breathed a sigh of relief as Lisanna joined her group. "I know what you're trying to do Wendy, but I don't think it's gonna work."
"But I hope this will give them time to calm down and call off the fight." Wendy said.
"You make it sound as if they're angry with each other." Carla observed. "But it seems as though they're actually eager for it."
"Considering this is Dante, Natsu, and Gajeel we're talking about, the odds of them actually calling off this fight are rather low." Modeus added.
"Still… I've seen Dante in action myself, and I've known Laxus most of my life." Lisanna said as she continued to watch the groups depart. "The thought of those two fighting each other… I honestly have no idea how that would go."
Fairy Tail guildhall
"You guys hear about the big showdown?" Wakaba asked those gathered in the guildhall consisting of Macao, Mira, Elfman, Patty, Romeo, and Kinana.
"Add that one to the list of Natsu's bad decisions." Macao commented.
"Actually, I heard it was Dante who picked the fight." Wakaba corrected.
"Did you guys know Laxus was around?" Romeo asked. "He's been hanging around the woods near Magnolia for a while."
"Dante vs. Laxus?! That sounds like a manly showdown!" Elfman exclaimed in excitement.
"I've never heard of him. How strong is this Laxus guy, anyway?" Patty wondered.
"Patty, let me put it this way: you've seen Natsu in action, right?" Mira asked the young girl, who nodded in confirmation. "Well, Natsu's never once beaten him in a one-on-one fight before."
That took Patty by surprise. "Wait, seriously?!"
"Yeah, he's definitely someone who can give me or Erza some trouble." Mira responded.
"Is he really that strong? How is he compared to Dante?" Kinana asked.
"He's a tough customer, for sure." Wakaba replied. "Back when he was still a member, I'd say that probably the only one more powerful than him besides the old man is Gildarts. But… Laxus squaring off against Dante? Now that's something I gotta see."
"Okay, as the master of the guild, I'd better get this party started!" Macao stated, already getting excited.
"Yeah! It'll be a fight party! The manliest kind there is!" Elfman exclaimed with a fist-pump.
"That's a great idea!" Patty beamed. "Let's turn this into something that's fun for everyone!"
"ALRIGHT!" Everyone in the guildhall all cheered.
Later that night.
Dante and Natsu had both arrived at the large clearing in the East Forest that would serve as their arena against Laxus for tomorrow, with Lisanna and Happy tagging along. But nobody expected there to be a huge celebration taking place. Within the clearing that had a diameter of at least six hundred meters, were lots of stands that served all kinds of food and had games with other festivities that outdoor parties had. Virtually everyone from Magnolia, along with those in Fairy Tail, had already arrived and were in a festive mood; leaving the group more than a little perplexed.
"Okay… not what was I expecting." Dante commented.
"What's going on, here?" Natsu questioned. "Is there some kind of festival happening here or something?"
"It's not the date for Fantasia, is it?" Lisanna asked.
"Everyone's getting their party on!" Happy exclaimed excitedly.
"You guys do realize this is all because of you, right?" Trish pointed out as she, Lucy, and Michelle joined them.
"What? Hey, I love a part as much as the next guy, but I did not plan this." Dante pointed out.
"I'm having so much fun! And all the food here is wonderful!" Michelle said joyously as she had already helped herself to some cotton candy, a corn dog, and a caramel apple.
"Geeze, does she have a hollow leg or something?" Lucy muttered.
"Seriously, what's this festival about?" Lisanna asked.
"We're being serious." Trish replied. "Everyone heard how you guys are gonna square off against Laxus tomorrow, so they decided to throw a party the night before."
"Huh." Dante gave a slight shrug. "Cool."
"Magnolia sure does love to party!" Happy beamed.
"So, you got any progress on that thing your dad left, Lucy?" Natsu asked.
"Not yet." Lucy said in a partially annoyed sigh. "But Levy's supposed to show up later, so she could probably help out. This seemed like a good way to unwind for a bit."
"Well, let's get going." Lisanna said to the whole group. "There's a party here, might as well have some fun!"
"Sounds like a plan." Dante smiled as the group joined the festivities.
At the farthest end of the clearing, a small stage had been set up as well as a familiar reporter was already there, though it would be better to describe him as something of a fanboy given his overly excited attitude for this whole thing.
"I can hardly believe it! Oooh! So cool! Ladies and gentlemen, it has been too long, but your favorite reporter, Jason, is back!" He announced over the microphone. "It's a reunion seven years in the making! And what a cool way to celebrate! Because this… is gonna be the most insane and awesome fight in the history of fighting!"
"Get off the stage!" Wakaba exclaimed with a grin as everyone else cheered.
"It's time for you to bring out the real talent already!" Macao also shouted.
"Without further delay, I'm honored to announce a woman that is the very definition of beauty! The lovely and super talented Miss Mirajane!" Jason presented Mira, who was dressed in a fancy yellow dress with a guitar in her hands and a flying microphone near her face. Her reveal was well-received by the audience with even louder cheers.
"Are you boys and girls ready to rock!?" Mira got everyone pumped.
"Bring it on, big sis!" Elfman cheered.
"Light up the stage, Mira!" Lisanna also cheered.
"Well, I'm very pleased to tell you we have a very special performance planned for you tonight…" Mira began.
While everyone else was getting excited near the stage, Dante hung further back at a picnic table as he helped himself to a bottle of beer with Lucy, Natsu, Trish, Happy, and Michelle had some food and drinks themselves, though Natsu and Michelle appeared to have the most food.
"So, you got a plan for the big fight, Cousin Dante?" Michelle asked with her mouth full before swallowing. "I hear this Laxus character is supposed to be really strong."
"Eh, I'll make it up as I go along." Dante shrugged.
"Really? You have no plan at all?" Michelle looked in surprise.
"Dante's not the type to plan things out." Trish commented. "And when he does, it usually goes wrong pretty quickly so it's easier for him to improvise."
"What about you, Natsu? You got a plan to take down Laxus?" Happy asked.
"Assuming there's anything left by the time I'm done with him." Dante added.
"Eh, I was probably gonna let him zap me with his lightning, figured that might trigger my lightning then I pound him with everything I got." Natsu said simply.
"Let me get this straight, you're gonna let him pound the crap out of you, thinking it might somehow let you trigger your Lightning-Flame powers again?" Lucy asked skeptically.
"Well, he was the one who gave me that power in the first place and he is Dragon Slayer, figured it could work." Natsu replied.
"Wow Natsu, that actually sounds kinda smart. Guess you do have a brain underneath all those muscles." Happy said.
"Complementing while sneaking in a burn, nice." Dante smirked as he and Happy exchanged a hand-to-paw fist-bump.
Trish looked around. "Hey, isn't Gajeel supposed to be fighting too? Haven't seen him here."
"You know he's gotta be really afraid he'd get beaten." Natsu guessed. "So, he's probably somewhere doing some kinda super crazy training."
"…Tonight folks, I'll be sharing the stage with a musician whose got soul and style." Mira announced. "A true, one of a kind, performer like you've never seen. Put your hands together for the one and only Blacksteel Gajeel Redfox!"
She presented the Iron Dragon Slayer, who sat in a stool, clad in a white tuxedo with a hat and sunglasses, and a base-guitar in his hands, much to everyone's shock.
"What the hell…?!" Dante spat out his beer.
"What in the heck is he doing up there?!" Natsu questioned.
"Doesn't look like training!" Happy stated.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Lucy voiced with worry.
Gajeel strummed his base as Mira sat down on the stool next to him. "Thank you all for coming out tonight. The two of us have got a very special song planned for all of you."
"Those two are in a duet?!" Macao exclaimed.
"Didn't see that coming." Wakaba looked in surprise.
"Allow us to begin with a tribute to the spirit of the Rock Queen, Elena Huston." Mira announced as she and Gajeel began to play their respective instruments, playing a familiar tune which already drew in the entire audience, even Dante and Natsu's group found themselves listening right as Mira began to sing the lyrics to 'Mermaid'
"Huh, not bad." Dante muttered as he began to tap his foot.
"It's very catchy." Michelle observed.
Even Natsu tapped his foot as he looked around. "Hey, where are Erza and Gray? You'd think they'd be interested in the fight too."
"They and Lady went out on a job earlier today." Lucy answered. "Wonder how that's going."
Meanwhile, Gray, Erza, and Lady had arrived at their destination, standing on a cliffside next to a waterfall, overlooking a canyon. On a larger cliffside below them laid a small house that was likely their intended target.
"Looks like we're camping out tonight." Gray stated.
"So much for making it back before nightfall." Lady commented.
"At least we were able to locate their hideout." Erza said. "Now all we need to do is wait for them to return with the stolen gold in hand."
"Great." Lady said as she sat down. It soon fell into silence as the group didn't seem like they had anything to talk about at the moment. However, none of them seem to notice Juvia, who had followed them the entire way, was hiding in the bushes behind them.
'My Beloved Gray… all alone with two beautiful women…! This is a disaster waiting to happen!'
"Wow, without Natsu and the others, it's so quiet." Gray said, trying to stir up a conversation.
"Mostly cause your friend is such a destructive maniac." Lady replied.
"Guess so." Gray stifled a chuckle. He paid a glance toward Lady as he noticed the black markings on her left arm. "So, you got that Devil Slayer magic down?"
Lady looked toward her marked arm. "For the most part, yeah. Been working with Mira for a while to keep it from getting to my head and not ending up like a bunch of other psychopaths that we know. Feels wired though, I've been using firearms my entire life… now I got this magic."
"I've noticed that you still use firearms even with your magic." Erza said.
"I can channel my power into the guns, plus using them just feels more right for me. Ya know?" Lady replied.
"Yes, I feel the same way." Erza agreed. "Despite the differences in abilities each of my armors possess, it feels incomplete if I don't use a sword or a spear. Everyone has their own preference when it comes to weapons or magic."
"So, just throwing this out there, since your power is metal, does that mean you can actually eat metal like how Gajeel does?" Gray asked Lady.
"Yep." Lady confirmed.
"Speaking of which, what exactly is the difference between steel and iron?" Gray continued to ask. "Because at first glance, it almost seems like your magic is a copy of his."
"Iron is a natural metal that comes from the earth." Erza explained for Lady. "While steel is a man-made alloy that is composed of several different metals; and depending on what type of metal is used, that steel can even be stronger than iron; but often times steel is usually composed of iron and carbon."
"Huh, cool." Lady nodded.
"So, you got a super sense of smell too?" Gray asked.
"Nope. I think that's just for Dragon Slayers." Lady replied.
"That would make sense." Erza nodded. "Dragons are animals and most animals do have stronger senses than most humans. But that doesn't necessarily mean Devil Slayer Magic doesn't have hidden qualities of its own."
"Well, I guess we'll just have to see as we go." Lady said.
Back behind the bushes, Juvia shook with comic fright. 'They're carrying on such a casual conversation! One of the first step to being in a serious relationship! Is Gray considering a harem?! I mean… if he doesn't mind the idea of a harem, I suppose I could be open minded with one… but he should at least consider me to be part of it!'
Erza then glanced down toward the hideout to see a quartet of masked bandits carrying large bags over their shoulders, undoubtedly filled with gold. "They've returned."
"Then lets go." Lady said as she and Gray stood up.
"Right." Gray nodded.
The Fairy Tail trio (along with a stalking Juvia) made it down the cliffside with little issue before approaching the bandits from behind.
"Stop right there!" Erza demanded, causing the bandits to turn around and face them.
"Yeah? Says who?" One questioned.
"I'm Erza Scarlet a wizard of Fairy Tail, and these are my comrades in arms." She introduced.
"You didn't have to take the question so literally you know." Gray muttered.
"She takes almost everything literally." Lady muttered back.
"We've been sent here to recover what you stole from our client." Erza told the bandits as she materialized a sword in her hand. "Resistance is futile! Now hand over the gold immediately!"
However, the bandits didn't appear to be intimidated as one of them actually laughed. "We'd thought they might send someone, so we hired ourselves some bodyguards." That caught the trio's attention. "Alright guys, were giving you a pretty big chunk of the loot, so you'd better deal with these Fairy pests!"
The bandits cleared out to reveal the bodyguards they hired. There were two men: one was significantly larger than the other as he wore a blue leather jacket with light blue pants and black shoes, with dark blue spikey hair oddly shaped like a star, with a short beard. The other was much smaller as he wore a white and green kung fu robe, had markings on his face, more straight black hair, and he carried a rather large frying pan behind him.
"Nice night for a battle." The smaller one said to the Fairy Tail trio.
"Too bad you're up against the Vanish Brothers." The larger one stated. "Let's make this quick."
"Vanish Brothers? Never heard of these guys." Lady said.
"I have." Erza said. "They're non-magical mercenaries."
"Yeah, Natsu and Lucy took these guys down a while back." Gray added.
"You're talking about ancient history, pal." The largest, and youngest, brother stated. "We've been training non-stop since that day. At the level we're at now, taking on the mighty Erza Scarlet sounds like a walk in the park."
"Oh really? You guys talk tough but let's see you put those words into action." Lady said as she stepped forward. "I can handle these two."
"Lady, are you sure?" Erza asked.
"I've taken down demons long before I had any magic powers." Lady stated. "I can handle a pair of mortal mercenaries. Be a good chance to break my magic in."
"Fine, they're all yours." Gray shrugged as he and Erza let Lady have at it.
"You've battled demons, have you?" The smaller, and oldest, brother said to Lady. "Well so have we, with nothing more than our bare hands. Let us see which is the one more deserving of the title of Devil Hunter."
Lady drew her pistols and infused them with her magic. "Steel Devil Bullet Barrage!" She fired a hail of steel magic bullets, but the eldest brother swung his frying pan to not only block but reflect the bullets back toward Lady, much to her surprise as she jumped out of the way to avoid the attacks.
"Steel based magic, hmm? This should prove interesting." The eldest brother observed. "My frying pan can not only block magical attacks, but also double its strength and reflect it right back at you."
"Not bad." Lady stated. "But don't tell me a cheap toy like that is all you got."
"Not even close." The eldest replied.
"Let's give her double-trouble." The youngest said as he leapt up onto the frying pan that the eldest held flat before heaving to toss the youngest straight up into the air.
"Heaven and Earth Annihilation Technique!" The eldest announced as his brother went straight up, causing Lady to glance up and see what the youngest was up to, but that was a mistake. "Look towards Heaven, and we strike from the Earth!" He swung his frying pan to slam it into Lady's abdomen and send her skidding across the ground on her feet.
"Look towards Earth, and we strike down from Heaven!" the youngest shouted as he fell back to the ground, his fists held outward as he landed his attack on Lady before leaping back toward his brother and on the frying pan again. "Very few have survived our ultimate combination attack, even demons were no match for this technique." The youngest was tossed up again as they went on the attack with the same technique, which appeared to put Lady on the defensive.
"She looks like she's having trouble." Gray observed with an uneasy expression.
"Yes, Natsu may have defeated them once, but that was seven years ago." Even Erza agreed. "Lady's only had her magic for a few weeks. Perhaps we should step in…"
However, as the eldest brother swung his frying pan toward Lady, she actually caught the weapon in her hands, much to everyone's surprise. But that was nothing compared to when Lady actually bit a chunk off the frying pan and proceeded to eat the metal.
"Wha… what are you…?" The eldest questioned in confusion as his younger brother fell back down with his fists gunning straight for Lady, but she had already leapt back to avoid the impact as the brothers regrouped.
"Big bro, what happened?" The youngest asked his brother.
"She… she bit a chunk off my frying pan…?!" The eldest looked in comic shock as Lady chewed and swallowed the metal in her mouth.
"Hmm, not bad." She wiped her mouth before smirking at the pair. "My turn. Steel Devil Rage!" She shot her breath-attack at the pair, but rather than aim toward them as the eldest would have reflected the attack with his frying pan, this attack struck the ground in front of them, creating an explosion that separated them, which was her intent.
"Let's see how you do when you're not flying in the air!" Lady challenged as she soared toward the youngest.
"Don't get cocky!" The youngest threw out his fist, which Lady blocked by crossing her arms. However, it felt like the brother had punched a steel wall as he pulled back his fist, feeling several bones crack in his hand as he cried in pain. "UGH! What… what did you…?!"
Everyone looked to Lady in surprise as her skin appeared to be coated in a smooth, shiny, and silver metal as she maintained her smirk. "Steel Devil Skin. What do you think?" She asked mockingly before lunging at the youngest to plunge her steel-coated fist into his gut, causing him to hack up some bile and blood, right before the force sent him flying and crashing into the house.
The eldest shouted as he lunged at Lady, slicing his frying pan toward her, but she was more than ready. "Steel Devil Void Blade!" Her right arm converting into a sword, she swung at the frying pan's handle to sever the pan from the pole, much to the eldest brother's shock before Lady finished with a knee to his face, her body still coated in steel, which was enough to knock him unconscious.
"Okay, who's next?" Lady challenged as her skin turned back to normal, glancing at the bandits, who looked like they were ready to piss their pants.
"Huh, not bad." Gray stated with an impressed grin.
Even Erza nodded with a genuine smile. "I think Lady's going to be just fine with her magic."
'Even I have to admit that was rather impressive.' Juvia thought as she remained hidden in the bushes. 'But I'm certain my beloved Gray could have finished them off much certain'
It wasn't long before all the bandits were on their hands and knees before the Fairy Tail trio, Lady in particular, as they bowed their heads.
"Now, you're gonna return all the gold and turn yourselves in, right?" Lady said to the bandits with a menacing grin on her face.
"Yes ma'am! Right away ma'am!" All the bandits said simultaneously.
The Next Day – East Forest
Laxus had arrived ten minutes before noon at the clearing where he was supposed to meet Dante, Natsu, and Gajeel; but he looked in minor surprise to see the festival that was occurring in the same spot.
"What's the big occasion?" Laxus asked as the Thunder Legion approached him from behind.
"When word got out that you were having a fight, the whole town decided to throw a big party." Bickslow answered.
"You seeing this Laxus? You're still quite the celebrity around here." Evergreen told him.
Laxus stifled a chuckle. "Yeah, I see they're all still a bunch of idiots."
"You're a true legend of the Fairy Tail guild." Freed said sincerely before he began to stream comic tears. "So why don't you realize how much we all desperately need you to be a part of it again?!"
Laxus winced slightly. "Get ahold of yourself man."
However, the former Fairy Tail member heard a child laugh from behind and paid a small glance to see the boy with an elderly man.
"Thanks a lot Grandpa." The boy said as he was given some cotton candy.
"Sure. But don't tell your mom, okay?" The man said to his grandson with a smile.
This small scene caused Laxus to smile slightly as he reminisced about happier times with his own grandfather.
Meanwhile, in a separate part of the forest, Wendy, Modeus, and Carla trekked through the woods as they appeared to be looking for a certain someone.
"This is horrible!" Wendy said. "The only reason I told them to wait a day is so that they could calm down a bit and call off the fight."
"Wendy, remember who it was that challenged Laxus in the first place." Carla told her. "Since when are Dante, Natsu, and Gajeel the type of individuals to actually call off a fight."
"Nothing we can do about that now." Modeus said. "But I am concerned about potential collateral, so let us hope the master can put an end to it before someone gets hurt."
"Before whom gets hurt?" Makarov asked as he and an exhausted Cana walked onto the scene, the later fell on her rear in exhaustion as she wiped the sweat from her brow.
"Oh man… I really need a drink…!"
"Where in the name of Sparda have you been?!" Carla exclaimed to Makarov. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"
"I've been helping Cana with her training to master Fairy Glitter." The guildmaster of Fairy Tail answered. "Has something happened?"
"Yeah, Dante, Natsu and Gajeel are about to have a fight against Laxus!" Wendy revealed.
"THEY'RE DOING WHAT?!" Makarov practically screamed.
"Hold on!" Cana shot straight up, right toward Modeus' face. "Dante… our Dante… the Son of Sparda… is about to duke it out freaking Laxus?!"
"Eh… yes." Modeus confirmed, in a rather uncomfortable tone given how close she was to his face.
"Well why the hell didn't you tell me sooner?!" Cana exclaimed as she shook Modeus by the shoulders, much to Wendy and Carla's shock. "I wanna be there for the big showdown!"
'No… please god no…!' Makarov thought in comic fear as he fell on his hands and knees. 'Not those two…. Anybody but those two...!' He could already see it; he imagined a cartoon-like scene of a burning Magnolia with Dante and Laxus clashing in the middle, both laughing like maniacs with razor-sharp teeth and super long tongues.
"COOOOOL!" Jason announced as the big fight was only moments away. All the stands and festival decorations had been cleared out as the audience formed a ring around the perimeter at enough of a safe distance to avoid being caught in the middle of the brawl that was to come.
"Laxus is so calm and collected, it's terrifying!" Jason continued to announce as Laxus sat on a chair in the center of the clearing with the Thunder Legion right behind him. The first to walk forward was Fairy Tail's resident Iron Dragon Slayer. "Sweet! Blacksteel Gajeel is ready to throw down! The two heroes stare down their opponent! The tension is so thick, you could cut it with a knife!"
Gajeel turned back toward the audience to see his Exceed companion, Lily make eye-contact, right before Gajeel smirked. Not long after that, Natsu himself stepped onto the field.
"Natsu the Salamander has arrived!" Jason announced once more. "We just wait for one more combatant…. Then we can get this insane fight started!"
The final fighter made his way from the audience, most of them clearing the way as his friends and cousin all looked toward him with concern or excitement. This was the match most of them had been waiting for.
"Dante Redgrave, the Son of the Dark Knight Sparda himself, has stepped onto the field!" Jason announced in an even more dramatic fashion. "All four warriors are in their places!" Dante stepped deeper into the clearing as Laxus stood up from his chair. "Laxus stands up, looks like Dante's getting first crack at him!"
The two stared each other down as the Thunder Legion stepped back to join the rest of the audience, even then Dante and Laxus continued to stare each other down, neither of them speaking a word to each other. A small wind blew in between them, causing Dante's jacket to flap slightly like a cape. No one dared speak a word, as if they feared that even one word could light a powdered keg of epic proportions.
"Let's do this." Laxus stated.
"Thought you'd never ask." Dante replied as he made the first move, quickly drawing Ebony and Ivory and opening fire with his pistols. However, Laxus was quick to generate a powerful electric aura around himself to act as a shield and block Dante's attack.
"Dante makes the first move! But Laxus hasn't budged an inch! So cool!" Jason shouted excitedly. Laxus then went on the attack as he appeared to turn his whole body into a bolt of lightning that shot around all the bullets and right into Dante, with Laxus throwing a punch into Dante's gut and sending him skidding across the ground on his feet before he bent over. "Laxus went on the offensive! Can Dante find a counter?!" Jason continued to comminate.
Laxus then zapped behind Dante in the form of lightning to throw a kick toward Dante's back, but the red-clad Devil Hunter quickly drew Rebellion to block Laxus' foot with the flat of his blade, acting as a shield and leaving Laxus open for Dante to flip up into the air above his opponent before kicking down on Laxus' head to knock him onto the ground.
"And just like that, the tables have turned!" Jason exclaimed. "Now Laxus is the one who is down!" While still in mid-air, Dante tried to swing Rebellion down on to Laxus, but he had already zapped himself away, turning his body into lightning again to gain some distance.
"You're quick." Dante commented. "But you'll have to be faster."
Laxus smirked slightly. "You sure about that?"
Dante's eyes quickly widened as he looked down to see a large yellow magic circle underneath him. Already he was engulfed with a large surge of lightning, which seemed to pin him down and leave him open.
"The tables have turned yet again, folks! Laxus appears to have Dante pinned!" Jason announced as the audience continued to watch in anticipation; Lucy, Michelle, Levy, Happy, and Patty looking the most concerned for Dante. However, Trish only smirked.
'Pal has no idea what he's getting into.'
Thinking he had him pinned, Laxus let loose another attack. "Raging Bolt!" Laxus threw down his arm to bring down a large bolt of lightning down on the trapped Dante, creating an explosion that appeared to engulf the red-clad Devil Hunter. But Laxus wasn't done yet, deciding to end the fight now, Laxus' body surged with lightning again as he shot at the dust cloud to throw out an electrified-punch. Once it impacted, the dust was blown away.
However, once the dust all cleared everyone, be they citizen, member of Fairy Tail, especially the Thunder Legion, fanboy reporter, and even Laxus himself, looked in surprise to see Dante had actually caught Laxus' fist in his free hand as he still maintained a smirk.
"Huh, tickled." Dante commented before he pulled Laxus in to deliver a powerful kick into his opponent's abs, knocking the wind right out of Laxus before Dante swung Rebellion to send him crashing against the ground, leaving a trench as he skidded to halt. Laxus struggled to pull himself up as he felt his chest where he was struck by Rebellion.
"Dante's actually got Laxus on the ropes…." Romeo observed.
"Now this is a fight! A fight of real men!" Elfman exclaimed.
"It's not over yet though." Mira said with an uncharacteristically serious expression. She knew both Dante and Laxus well and could tell that they both had plenty of fight left.
"You're pretty good." Dante commented as he saw his opponent stand up. "But I got plenty of experience with lightning, so if you wanna throw in the towel, I won't stop you."
However, Dante was somewhat caught off guard as Laxus began to chuckle before it erupted into a full-blown laugh, a laugh that surprised many of his former comrades of the Fairy Tail guild.
"It's been a while since I met someone who can actually give me a challenge! And it really gets my blood pumping!" Laxus exclaimed in an excited tone as his body began to surge with even stronger lightning than before. "Come on Dante! Show me what you got!"
Dante smirk turned into a daring grin. "Bring it on, Laxus!" He twirled Rebellion right as he lunged at Laxus who lunged at him, coating his own arms with a powerful barrier of electric power. As Dante swung Rebellion at him, Laxus used his lightning-coated arms as a make-shift weapon to block Dante's sword before slugging a punch across his face, before Dante retaliated with a kick to Laxus' side, allowing Dante to swing and slam the flat of his blade into Laxus' chest. From then on, the two engaged in an epic brawl as they blocked and exchanged punches and sword-against-lightning-arm clashes. As Dante swung Rebellion with both his hands, channeling his own demonic energy into the blade, Laxus threw both his electric fists out. The attacks collided and sent both flying back away from each other, but both were able to land on their feet easily enough.
Laxus was the first to go back on the attack. "Lightning Dragon Demolition Fist!" Laxus pulled his fist back before throwing it out to send a massive fist made entirely out of lightning straight at Dante, who attempted to swing Rebellion at it to break it up, but that was a mistake as the resulting explosion sent Dante flying through the air. Using this to his advantage, Laxus shot straight at Dante and while airborne, laid a series of electric punches across Dante's body, but Dante wasn't done yet.
"Quicksilver!" Dante slowed time around himself and Laxus, and while still in mid-air, moved behind his opponent to pull up on Rebellion and slam the flat on his back to send Laxus crashing onto the ground once the effects of Quicksilver wore off. "Beowulf!" Dante fell to the ground, thrusting out his left foot, and left Beowulf grieve, which Laxus was barely able to avoid by turning his body into lightning again to move out of the way just in time. Dante gave pursuit with the extra speed provided by Beowulf to throw a punch at Laxus, who tried to block it with his lightning-arms again, but the force sent Laxus flying and rolling across the ground. But he quickly recovered and shot at Dante again, who shot at him as they clashed with each other in mid-air, their bodies only visible as blurs with shockwaves erupting from each impact.
"Holy crap….!" Bickslow muttered.
"Holy super crap!" His dolls all exclaimed.
"I know Dante is strong and all but… he's actually got Laxus on the ropes!" Evergreen stuttered.
"I shouldn't be surprised, yet I am." Freed said in awe as he continued to watch the fight.
Everyone else in Fairy Tail looked in absolute awe, or even fear in the case of Lily who, giving his lightning-phobia, held his hears down as he shook in place, even Gajeel was starting to sweat a bit at seeing them go all out. Normally, the ever-excited fanboy Jason would be commentating, but he was filled with so much internal excitement that he couldn't even mutter a word as he continued to watch with a jaw-dropping smile and sparkling eyes.
"I never thought Cousin Dante would be so strong…" Michelle said before stars formed in her eyes. "He's absolutely amazing!"
"Give it to him Dante! Kick the crap out of him!" Patty cheered.
"Patty, who taught you that language!" Levy scolded.
"Hey Trish… just out of curiosity… how would you compare Laxus' lighting to yours?" Lisanna asked the lighting she-demon.
"It's not just his lightning, he's crazy strong too." Trish commented. "Honestly… I'd say this guy might be even stronger than I am."
"Why do I have a bad feeling this won't end well." Lucy muttered while Happy paid a concerning glance towards Natsu, who continued to watch with a serious expression.
Dante threw out a punch with his left Beowulf gauntlet, but Laxus proved quick enough to not only avoid the punch but also grab Dante's arm with both his hands and throw Dante back at the ground. Not even giving him time to recover, Laxus shot another attack at him. "Lightning Dragon Roar!" The attack hit Dante dead on, sending him rolling across the ground, he barely had time to get up as Laxus landed and unleashed another attack. "Lightning Dragon Heavenward Halberd!" He raised his hands in the air to generate a massive spear made entirely out of lightning before throwing it at Dante, who actually smirked in anticipation.
"Nevan!" Quickly drawing his electric-scythe, Dante spun it in front of him like a helicopter blade, almost like he was forming a shield, generating a surge of purple lightning around it as he spun. But rather than block the attack, Laxus' lightning-spear was actually absorbed into his weapon, creating a bright and powerful surge that mixed yellow and purple lightning. Using the momentum gathered from Laxus' attack, Dante swung Nevan out to send a massive shot of purple and yellow lightning straight at the shocked Laxus with explosive results.
Most of the crowd all screamed as they stood their best to stay on their feet without being blown away by the shockwave before they recovered to look in shock.
"Did Dante just absorb and reflect Laxus' attack?!" Jet exclaimed.
"Not only that, but he also channeled his own power into it to make it even stronger!" Droy also exclaimed.
"You're a Dragon Slayer, so you can eat lighting, right?" Dante asked as the smoke began to clear, to reveal Laxus was on his knees and appeared out of breath, his shirt tattered and torn, his body emanating residual effects of yellow and purple lightning. "All but your own. Just like how Natsu can't eat his own fire."
However, rather than appear angry, Laxus chuckled as he pulled himself up. "You're something else, you know that Dante? You're every bit the monster that I heard you were."
"I could say the same to you. You're definitely one of the toughest guys I've fought." Dante commented. "I mean, you're nowhere near Hades' level, and my bro could probably give you some trouble too, but you're at least in the top five in my book."
Laxus' smirk only grew. "But I got a feeling that you're holding back. So, what do you say we kick things up a notch?" Laxus teeth sharpened slightly as he began to channel more of his Dragon Slayer power. His muscles began to grow slightly as electric reptilian scales formed around his arms and sides.
Natsu's eyes widened. 'I know this power… it was just like when me and Gajeel took him on that time… but it feels even stronger than that!'
"Laxus is channeling the full extent of his power…!" Freed stated. "I never thought it be possible, as he's only an artificial Dragon Slayer… but it seems he's done it… he's achieved true Dragon Force!"
When the transformation was done, both Laxus' arms were coated in bright yellow scales, as were his sides that stretched up to his neck and the sides of his face; his body surging with even more powerful lightning than before. Dante recognized this type of power before, he had seen Natsu achieve Dragon Force twice, once was against Vergil, the other was against Arkham. And it only made Dante that more excited.
"Going all out huh? Alright, yeah… let's take this thing to the next level!" Dante stated as he drew upon his own demonic power. A powerful red whirlwind blew around him before his body was engulfed in a bright red flash. The flash subsided, and gone was Dante's human form, replaced by a more demonic-looking appearance that was known as his Devil Trigger.
"He just went straight to his Devil Trigger!" Trish exclaimed in shock as everyone was now starting to get more than a little worried.
"Hold on… I thought this whole thing was supposed to be light sparring!" Lucy exclaimed.
"I don't think they're playing games anymore…!" Patty winced.
"If this keeps up, those two could level the entire East Forest!" Levy shouted.
"Looks like they got a little carried away…" Michelle said with a wincing smile on her face.
"This is bad… like really bad…" Lisanna muttered.
"Aye…!" Happy squeaked with fear.
"Dad, we gotta call this off right now!" Romeo exclaimed to Macao.
"You're kid's right, Macao! This has gone way too far!" Wakaba added.
"Yeah… alright. Show's over!" Macao stated as he addressed the audience. "Everyone clear out! Now!"
"Too late!" Mira exclaimed as both the transformed Dante and Laxus shot at each other.
The Devil Trigger Dante, coated in a surge of red demonic energy shot as he gave off a demonic-like roar, pulling back on the black Rebellion as he prepared to unleash a massive attack. While the Dragon Force Laxus mirrored his actions with a yell, a powerful surge of intense lightning encompassing his whole body as he pulled back a fist for a dangerous attack of his own. The red bolt and electric surge shot at each other like a pair of meteors and were ready to make contact until…
"Enough!" A brilliant and golden light appeared in-between the pair, halting their attacks just as Dante and Laxus lashed out their sword and fist respectively. Both combatants were caught off guard as each of their attacks were blocked by one of two golden magic circles held out by none other than Makarov, who appeared in-between them, outstretching his hands to prevent them from going any further.
"This fight is over! Both of you stand down, now!"
"Ah, come on Gramps! This was just getting good!" Dante complained.
"I said enough, Dante! That is final!" Makarov told him with a firm tone of finality in his voice. "Are you two trying to cause a disaster?!"
The pair looked around to see not only the sheer destruction that was wrought from their battle, but also many of the frightened spectators. This seemed enough to calm the pair down as they let go of their respective transformations. Red steam and vapor flew from Dante's body before he reappeared in his human form, while the scales from Laxus' body vanished, and he turned back to normal as well.
"Sorry… so, a draw then?" Dante asked Laxus.
"Yeah, it's a draw." Laxus confirmed, the excitement finally deflating from his voice.
Wendy, Carla, and Modeus, all who had just arrived onto the scene as well each gave a sigh of relief as the fight ended. "Aw, too bad." Cana said in minor disappointment as she appeared with them. "I kinda wanted to see how that would go."
"Alright everyone, the show is over! Go home!" Modeus told the crowd of people.
"No way!" Natsu suddenly exclaimed as he quickly and comically ran directly toward Dante, Laxus, and Makarov. "Come on Gramps! I totally called fighting Laxus once Dante was done! It's my turn! So let me…!" Suddenly Natsu was zapped with Laxus' lightning before Dante kneed him in the gut, and Makarov finished with an enormous fist to slam Natsu onto the ground and knock him out.
"Natsu!" Happy exclaimed as he flew to check up on him.
"Any further objections?" Makarov asked to anyone else.
"Actually, we still got Gajeel but…" Dante turned back to where the Iron Dragon Slayer was supposed to be, only to look in surprise, with everyone else, to find that Gajeel vanished entirely, leaving only a dotted-line-silhouette in his place. "Welp, looks like he already cleared out." He shook his head with a smirk. "Chicken."
With that, everyone around them all began to clear out as most of the people from Fairy Tail helped the citizens of Magnolia get home from the East Forest. All except Dante, Makarov, and Laxus; along with the Thunder Legion behind their former leader, as well as Lucy, Lisanna, Michelle, Trish, Levy, Modeus, Wendy, Carla, Cana, and Happy who still tried to help the unconscious Natsu.
Laxus and Makarov made eye-contact with each other, neither of them saying a word to each other, almost as if one could communicate with the other silently. Laxus then glanced toward Dante. "Let's do this again some other time, settle the score."
"Sure, sounds good." Dante nodded in acceptance as Laxus turned around to walk away, much to the shock of the Thunder Legion.
"You're just gonna take off again?" Bickslow questioned.
"Please! Come back to Fairy Tail!" Evergreen pleaded, but Laxus just continued walking.
"Master! Hasn't his expulsion from the guild lasted long enough!? Take him back!" Freed stated, but Makarov remained firm on his decision as they all watched Laxus walk away, just as Natsu began to regain consciousness.
"You okay buddy?" Happy asked.
"A little bummed out, but I'll live." Natsu said, sounding comically depressed.
Dante gave a small sigh before turning around to walk away as well. "Hey Dante, hold on." Lucy quickly made her way toward him. "Before you head out, you should know that we figured out that ancient language."
That got Dante's attention as he turned back to Lucy, who had Trish, Michelle, and Levy gathered around her, with Michelle holding the case carrying Jude's memento. "Seriously?! When?!"
"Last night just before the fight." Michelle answered.
"Levy got back, and she helped us to translate it." Trish added.
"Well, what the thing say?" Dante asked Levy specifically.
Levy pulled out a piece of paper where she wrote the translated inscription on it. "I don't know why it had all that weird demonic energy on it, but the language was actually human in origin, Ancient Podomelian to be specific." She then began to read the writing aloud. "The inscription's exact translation was 'Time ticks forward, when the Darkness of the Pit meets the Light of the Stars, Chaos will engulf the world'."
"Well, that's not ominous or anything." Dante stated as the rest of the group drew closer.
"It's an omen." Modeus said as he walked up. "I've heard more than my fair share of those, but I've never heard of this one before."
"You think this 'Darkness of the Pit' could be referring to the Underworld?" Carla asked.
"Oh, most definitely." Trish confirmed.
"So where does this 'Light of the Stars' come in? What does that mean?" Dante asked.
"No idea." Trish shook her head.
"But I've heard that phrase before." Lucy revealed, catching everyone's attention, especially Dante as she pulled out a book that she brought with her. "I remember reading it in this book before. Basically, it's about an old clock that's passes from one owner to the next over a long period of time, and a lot of mysterious things happen around it throughout its history. But Dante, take a look here." Lucy turned a page and pointed to the picture of a clock in the upper right corner of the left page. "Look familiar?"
Dante's eyes widened. "That looks like…"
"Yeah, a clock hand." Lucy confirmed. "So that memento Dad left for us…"
"Is just one piece of an even bigger puzzle." Dante finished as they both gave a concerning glance to the case that contained said memento, now confirmed to be a clock hand, in Michelle's possession. Dante then looked at the book again and noticed something in a picture on a page behind the current one. "Hang on a sec." He took the book and flipped the page to reveal the picture. "Hey, look over here."
Lucy looked to the picture Dante was looking at and gave a gasp at what she saw. It was the picture of a man, and while the picture lacked any color, they both recognized the man's face and hairstyle in the sketch. "But… but that's…"
"Yeah, it's my old man."
That got everyone's attention, even Makarov's.
"Whoa… Sparda?! Are you sure?!" Happy exclaimed.
"Positive." Dante confirmed as several of their friends tried to come around them to see the picture for themselves.
"Yes, that's definitely him." Modeus recognized the picture of his master's human form.
"So Sparda's connected to this clock-thing?" Lisanna asked.
"Seems that way." Trish added.
"He is the Dark Knight, so seems like he's connected to everything." Levy commented. "Even our guild."
"So, what does all this clock stuff mean?" Natsu questioned.
"It means, we've got a serious mystery on our hands." Dante said with a serious expression. "And I've got a bad feeling that it's gonna blow up in our faces soon enough."
Later that afternoon, everyone else had left the East Forest to either return home or head back to the guildhall. Lily took his fellow Exceeds Happy and Carla on ahead to see if they could find Gajeel there, but they didn't appear to find him in the building. However, the black Exceed heard a series of footsteps from outside.
"I think I can hear Gajeel outside." He quickly ran out the door with Happy and Carla right behind him. "Where have you been?!" Lily spoke out, only to look in surprise to see that it wasn't Gajeel, but a group of faces that he, Happy, and Carla all recognized, but never thought they'd ever see again. "I don't believe it!"
There was a total of four individuals. One was a teenage girl with long braided brown hair, with a puppy-dog like nose, she wore a colorful dress with dark green tights underneath. Another was a woman with sleeveless dark green body suit, shoulder-length purple hair and streaks of white. The third was a tall man with a cleft chin, quaffed blonde hair, with a pair of sunglasses, while wearing a white disco-styled suit. Finally, the last one was the dark blue coat-wearing young swordsman with his arm right arm still bandaged up and in a sling, who was given the name Nero.
Done.
So, what did you all think? Unlike last the anime, we got an actual fight! This time between Dante and Laxus, and let me tell you, I had a lot of fun writing that! Laxus can actually stand to go on par with Dante, even Dante admitting he's one of the toughest guys he's ever fought. I know that according to the wikia, Laxus' own Dragon Force state is described as that big bulky form he took when he fought Natsu and Gajeel in the Fighting Festival arc, but that seemed like a poor imitation compared to what Natsu would gain. So I instead decided to give Laxus a small upgrade, showing that while he was exiled from Fairy Tail, he has decided to train himself and better harness his powers as a Second Gen Dragon Slayer, now he has a true Dragon Force that he can readily access. (Pretty cool, huh?) Of course, Makarov brought the fight to a halt before a real winner can be declared.
But also, we learned that the memento Lucy's father left behind is a piece of a giant and mysterious clock that Sparda may be connected to. And it seems that Fairy Tail is about to receive some strange visitors and are finally about to meet Nero as well.
I know I've said this before, but I feel like I'm gonna say it again; things are going to be different in this fic than it was in the filler arc from the anime. Most of the "Key to the Starry Sky" arc was for comedic purposes (with some genuine action and heart-felt moments in it, but not nearly as much as the cannon stuff like with the Grand Magic Games), so I'm gonna fix things up with not only the additions of Devil May Cry elements from the fourth game like Nero and the Order of the Sword, but many of these fights are gonna be much more serious (though there will be some funny moments thrown in to keep it balanced).
Things are gonna really get exciting from this point forward as Fairy Tail has its first confrontation with the Order of the Sword in the next chapter. Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there.