What was the difference between a rave and a fight between two powerful mages? Well the latter is 200 percent more likely to include old men and is slightly less dangerous. Though both would be quite exciting and an amazing light show.
Goldmine was high. Not drunk, even though he would currently like to be, he was a good hundred feet up in the air, ridding on a thrown boulder that was launched up there by one of his friend's many powerful attacks.
The guild master of Quatro Cerberus looked back down and started to run down the boulder, a golden aura flying beside him and taking the form of a giant eagle. At the end of the boulder, the former teammate of Makarov leapt with into the open blue, and in range of multiple magical blasts which could very easily be mistaken for lasers. The giant eagle was able to swoop in and allow Goldmine to avoid the blasts that kept flying and seemed to politely disagree with a large cliff's existence some distance behind the former Fairy Tail Alumni.
Goldmine held on to his hat and looked down on his friend. "You know, Makky, everyone always called me the wild one, but why was I the most responsible one in the team?"
His friend currently under mind control didn't respond to that rhetorical question. Instead, his actual response was to make several fast hand motions with his glowing, giant hands, which instantly translated into over a dozen magic circles surrounding and keeping up with Goldmine mid air.
Makarov slammed his hands together as the magic circles all compressed to where Goldmine was. However, before the attack could connect, there was a flash of gold before an orb of white magic energy entrapped the alumni from Fairy Tail. That same orb lasted a long amount of time, a half second to be precise, before it shattered like glass and Goldmine landed on the ground. This time there was a giant, golden three headed dog standing behind the other guild master.
"Gilded Aura: Cerberus." Goldmine threw his hand out as all three dog heads gave an impressive roar towards the giant of master. "Man, this really is more annoying than the first time. You didn't know any of those really fancy light spells back then, not to mention all I had to do was beat up Jumanda Hagu and you were pretty good- well sorta anyway."
However, while Goldmine was having this one sided dialogue, Makarov was gathering a large amount of magic energy that would do more than just destroy a cliff or two.
Goldmine sighed and stepped forward. "Sorry, Makky, it took a lot longer to get used to your patterns than usual. We're not as young as we used to be."
After that, Goldmine blasted forward with his soul following not too far from him. Makarov, using his body manipulation magic, threw his giants hands backward which then rocketed outward and stretched with all the tension of pulled rubber at it's very limits.
Goldmine knew that attack. He clicked his tongue as he recalled how powerful it was. This next few moments would be hell—
With a pop, the stretched giant's hands came in with speeds so fast, it looked more like there were multiple giant fists coming in than two. Even one of those punches seemed more than capable to make someone like Goldmine into a pancake.
But that's just speculation. Before the barrage of punches came in, the Golden Cerberus had all six of it's eyes glow. This allowed Goldmine to avoid every single punch that was no doubt going to change geography maps for years to come around that area.
Slowly but surely, Goldmine closed the distance. Makarov stopped his assault and raised back one fist that started to get wrapped around in light and several other elements. Goldmine, seeing this, stopped his advance, strengthened his stance and threw his own hand back as the cerberus behind him howled and roared with power.
The two old friends stared each other down, before…
Makarov made the first move, sending that empowered punch right for the master of Quatro Cerberus.
Or at least, it should have. Faster than a blink, Goldmine vanished before the punch was thrown and uppercutted his giant friend in the chin, causing Makarov to release the stockpiled magic which would have no doubt caused a massive explosion. Makarov fell with a boom and Goldmine's Cerberus Soul was quick to pin the giant down.
Though even though he was down, Makarov still wasn't out as his magical aura spiked again for a counter attack— "WAKE UP ALREADY, BASTARD!" Goldmine yelled with a coated fist of his own magic and punched Makarov right in the forehead.
The golden aura overwrote the orange aura over Makarov's eyes, and soon it returned to normal. Makarov was freed from the mind control—
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BASTARD, OLD FART!?" And the first thing after being freed from mind control? A knee jerk reaction to punch his friend in the face, which for a giant was just him swatting the man away for calling him old.
Goldmine was knocked through some trees that had managed to survive their fight until that very moment. Yet Goldmine got back up with little effort or pain from the attack and shouted back, "Hey! That's the thanks I get for snapping you out of it a second time!?"
Makarov shrunk back to his normal size and put a hand on his head. "Snapping me out off…?" The small sized Wizard Saint then had his eyes snap open when all the memories came back to him.
With realization over him, Makarov slammed the ground he was on, creating a small crater and unleashing a curse. "Damn! Not again!"
Goldmine sighed once more, seeing his old friend in a sad state. He moved closer to his smaller friend and sat next to him.
Makarov felt something cold and metal touch his head. He looked up to see Goldmine holding up a cool flask. The glasses wearing guild master only gave a small smirk. "I took one of these from Bob's place before we left. I figured you'd be needing one after I snapped you out of it."
The third master of Fairy Tail slowly took the flask, opened it, and had the sent of good smelling alcohol hit his nose. Seeing what it was, Makarov calmed down and started drinking the contents.
After his first gulp, he wiped his mouth and sighed. "Damn, a second time?" His complaint was far softer but he looked over to Goldmine. "Looks like I owe you one, you old junkyard dog."
Goldmine laughed before patting the smaller man's back. "You owe me more than that, baldy."
"I'm not bald dammit!" Makarov shouted before putting a hand on his head. "Still, it's going to be hard to face Team Valiant after almost killing them."
"What about me, ya baldy?"
"What about you, old mutt?"
Goldmine gave a light punch to his friend's shoulder. "Hey, at least I age like fine wine. You and the others have aged like spoiled cheese."
"Ha!" Makarov scoffed, barely phased by the love tap. "I'll be sure to tell Porlyusica that!"
Instead of worried, Goldmine smirked in return. "That'll require you to actually talk and face her."
The last point went to Goldmine as Makarov winced at the idea of talking directly to their old temperamental teammate. He was about to make another drink before he and Goldmine gave a small pause. "By the way, are you going to deal with that thing about to attack us?"
Goldmine rolled his eyes as Makarov continued to drink without a care in the world. There was indeed an attacker behind the two Wizard Saints as it made a mad dash for the two of them, only for Goldmine to catch a limb before it could connect to either him or Makarov.
However, the limb he caught was not exactly a limb but the neck of a purple snake.
"Hmm?" Both men turned back to look at the snake. Their attacker caught their attention much like it was caught in Goldmine's grasp.
"Hey… this snake…" Goldmine continued to speak while the snake gave a futile attempt to escape or attack the guild master's hold. "It's not actually a snake?"
"That is a complex curse." Makarov put away the flask for a moment and showed his palm to their captive. "Here, let me undo it."
With a wave of his hand, the form of the snake shattered like glass, leaving behind the image of a slightly middle-weight girl with purple hair wearing a white dress over her body.
Goldmine then let the girl down on the dirt with all the care of a good parent. "Well at least she still has some clothes after the spell broke, so there's that. Who is she though?"
"There's something else." Makarov spoke out. "When I undid that curse, I found it was cast on her for nearly two decades. The poor child has probably lived longer as a snake than a human."
"Hmm, could the doc be responsible for this? Nah, it doesn't seem like his style. It could have also been living here this whole time." Goldmine, while being a social butterfly, wasn't always that observant with details. He failed to recall that the purple snake just so happened to look like the same snake in the picture with Cobra. Due to the fact he never really saw the creature, this fact slipped his mind, and he didn't even realize he had just turned the pet of Cobra back into a human.
Goldmine then turned to Makarov. "Ah that reminds me, we should probably be helping out the others. I spent waaaaayyy too much time trying to snap you out of it."
Makarov wiped his mouth, closed the flask, and stood up. "Where are they anyway?"
Goldmine simply pointed to the large floating city that was currently moving away from the both of them. "You serious?"
"Huh, in my defense, I simply thought it was the alcohol acting faster than usual." Makarov used his magic to summon back his Wizard Saint Uniform. "Now then, it's time to pay back the good doctor for making me attack my own children."
Before the two Wizard Saints could enter the fray, they were distracted by something else being cast over their heads.
I know I like to joke about the whole, 'Crisis of the Week' thing I have going on ever since I came to Earthland, but it's another thing completely when a joke like that is starting to look more like a fact of life than a sarcastic observation.
As much as I love my friends I've met here, I'm pretty much convinced I'm not going to live to see the end of the next year at the rate I'm currently going. I mean—look at us right now: Erza and I are pinned down by the a General Grievous knockoff after trying to break his swords and beat him, the other half of us consisting of Gray and Lucy that were supposed to get to Brain, but somehow the ill bastard defeated all of them, including Ignis and was now heading towards a scared witless Wendy!
I digress. My mind may still be seeing triple versions of everything, but if I'm somewhat coherent enough to still complain like a bitch, then moving my hand under this thing that's almost crushing my lungs shouldn't be too hard. Just gotta move it a little more to my back… where I keep that pouch of goodies...
Things is though, while I hope whatever I'm coming up with isn't a brain-damaged hallucination, I also need someone else to get attention away from Brain and the Griever.
"… ends here." Brain, who looks even weirder to me—probably still having my head ringing—spoke out to a horrified Wendy.
Which also means I no longer have a choice in the matter.
The smallest moment went to a futile prayer before I moved my hand and threw a gum bomb right at the face of the Griever with it's attention elsewhere. There was no way I was done as I threw another ball, this time a Cracker Sphere, as fast as I could towards Brain so it would explode light and sound with his advance senses—that I really hoped he had. I mean, those big baddies are usually super human, right?
If I had one thing going my way, it was the fact that Erza was also playing possum along with me. The moment I made my distraction, she re-summoned her sword breaker great sword and made a cleave strong enough to shatter all three limbs restraining her. With all the skill I expected of her, she kicked off the Griever, which freed me. As I got out of the way, Erza transformed back into her Heaven's Wheel armor and made a mad dash towards Brain while he was still rubbing his eyes.
I spotted her about to unleash her strike, but Brain raised his head back up… were his eyes always blood red?
In a burst of magic that looked more like a wall of ghostly souls, Brain blasted Erza into a wall and turned those crimson eyes towards me.
A little after, I felt a shift of weight nearby me. My instincts knew what that was as I forced my body to leap out of the way from the Griever's gravity field. Even with half it's arms and blades gone, it still looked scarier than before! How the heck was that still a thing!?
The onyx colored Machina King went on the attack, trying to hit me with his stone blade and gravity fields. In one exchange, I was caught without being able to move out of the way. With little options left, I made the Omni Tool into a shield before the gravity blade could do an impressive physical impossibility in my world by both cutting and crushing me in one swoop. To my ever lasting regret and already dead hope, I stopped being cut in half, but now, I could feel the weight of like a hundred monster trucks barreling down on me. I fell to my knees as I buckled under the pressure and the idea even with super powers, I was as useful as a white crayon being used on an empty sheet of paper.
"You mages hired by the council are a tenacious bunch." I heard Brain speak out. "I'd be impressed if I wasn't so annoyed."
I spotted Carla grab on to Wendy's hand and take her away from Brain's area. When she did that, Brain's attention was brought back to her and this time I couldn't do much of anything!
"Kain!" Thankfully, Erza was still around as she had gotten out of the wall she was blasted into and was able to stab her great sword into the left shoulder blade of the Machina King. The anti-sword dug through the Griever's usually thick armor, obviously battered from all the attacks previously tanked adding on to the fact Erza's new blade was specifically designed to break magical steel. However, it didn't dig deep enough as he activated the gravity blade once more, shooting both Erza and me up into the air before she could stab the great sword even further.
"Look out!" Even though I didn't turn to Wendy, I knew it was her voice and I knew what she meant. Without even waiting, I activated the winds of the armor and grabbed Erza out of the way of a pillar of dark souls that missed us and created another hole in the roof.
I looked down and saw Brain now turning his attention to Wendy. I felt Erza move under my arm, which in that moment of trust and instinct, I threw Erza back at the Griever while I sped between Wendy and Brain.
"Wendy, get to a safer zone!" I screamed as a summoned a red blade and charged right for—oh shoot, I'm charing right for the leader of the Oracion Seis!
Wendy felt another tug on her hand and looked back down to Carla. "You heard him, child. We need to get back!"
"B-But!" The small girl tried to say as she looked between Erza, who was hit away as she attempted to finishing her her cleave with the anti-sword. She looked back when she heard blasts and saw Kain zipping around the area, picking up the others and getting Brain with red eyes to focus solely on him. Yet Wendy eyed the downed members—memories of Bella Solaris, telling her to run and never seeing her again—and she pulled her hand away from Carla. "Carla, we need to help them!"
Wendy made a dash for the injured members. This was noticed by Brain (?) as he turned and saw the little one running.
"It's time to destroy the sealers of Nirvana!"
"Like hell, I'll let you!"
As soon as Brain (?) screamed that, Kain took that moment to wrap his arms around the chest of the leader of Oracion Seis and fly out of the hole that he made an entrance to.
Wendy was still able to reach those who Brain had defeated first. She could tell they were all amazing and brave people in their own right, but the problem was that she didn't have that much practice with her healing magic yet. She could heal people, but by maybe the first or second one, she wouldn't think to have that much stamina and energy left.
There was a heavy shake of the room followed by an unearthly wail coming from above, signaling that Kain's distraction wasn't going to last much longer.
"Wendy, move out of the way!" A scream from the opposite side of the room forced Wendy and Carla to look back, only to see a row of spiked boulders heading their way due to the Griever stabbing his stone blade and Erza accidentally dodging the attack meant for her.
The blue haired girl panicked before something moved in to rescue her once more. This time it was The Exemplar Guardian. The bot with grass mold over it started to shine and a powerful greenish blue dome shield covered the group that withstood the attack of the Griever. Afterward, Wendy recalled that the automaton listened to her every command. She pointed towards the Griever that was somehow still fighting Erza even with half of it's arms gone. "Help Erza stop the Griever!"
In response to her command, the eyes of the rusted and moldy bot started to glow. The Griever moved his head fast despite the great sword still lodged to his shoulder blade. He made a move but was stopped as Erza threw one of her normal blades to force the Griever to block her attack. The moment to dodge was wasted as the Exemplar seemed to know a weak spot and fired a concentrated eye laser right through the torso of the The Griever, aiming for where it's mechanical heart would have been.
The nightmarish machine finally fell to it's knees. The moving metal seemed to slow to a stop and it fell forward—then twisted its body mid fall, its gears grinding louder and faster than before. The corpse moved with what seemed to be the last of its magic, grabbing the blade and tossing right back at the other humanoid robot. The great sword pierced through The Exemplar Shield and stabbed right through the left arm of the robot. With that last action, the fearsome Machina King at last fell.
"Aahh!" Wendy looked over as the Exemplar Guardian also fell, the stub where its robotic, sail like arm was now gone and the lights in it's eyes seemed to be flickering. Wendy went up to the robot, but recalled her magic could only work on people, not machines. "P-Please be alright!"
"Wendy!" Erza ran over towards the girl. "Are you alright?"
"I-I can't stop Nirvana without him!" The girl pleaded as looked over to Erza, as if expecting a way for her to fix this.
Erza seemed to actually think before there was a huge spike of oppressive magical power followed by a scream that obviously belonged to Kain.
That seemed to force the S-class mage's hand. "Start with Jason Dracoblood, the blue haired knight. He's a healer like you! And if you both can't heal everyone fully, at least until they're good enough!"
With that, she flew upward into the air, hoping that is wasn't too late to save her friend.
(This is too easy.) Zero mused to himself as he found himself flying back out of the core room by the ant in precious armor. He raised both his hands and then brought them down hard. The result was the little scum bag hitting the floor with such force that a crater appeared when contact was made.
Zero levitated in the air before one teleport later, he was right next to the young man attempting to get back up. With a stomp of his leg to the plated helmet, Zero reacquainted the loser to the ground.
(Hmm why does this worm feel familiar?) Having enough fun pinning him down, Zero kicked the boy some distance away. Even after that, the glutton for punishment stood up, albeit a little wobbly and stared down the powerful personality.
Zero watched as the worm tried to get in close and attack him. His speed was nothing to scoff at, for sure, but dealing with the likes of Racer allowed him to understand the timing of most speedsters. Zero easily caught a high speed punch meant for his face and locked his grip down on the worm's fist. Then, he proceeded to turn him into a rag doll by slamming him left and right. This almost cartoonish beat down made Zero laugh. Oh how long has it been since he had this sensation? This—the cool night air, the way the screams of pain were akin to musical notes of an emotional orchestra, and the way his overwhelming power made words like 'impossible' seem untouchable to him!
He really couldn't help but laugh at it all, even more so when he saw the soon-to-be blood stain summon a blade in his arm and attempted to stab him in his face while mid air. The monster of Oracion Seis only smiled wider and dodged the slow moving blade by pushing his hand forward and unleashing a wave of powerful magic that overwhelmed the armored brat.
The way the attack made the worm scream in pain and sent him crashing through a collapsing ruin made Zero sigh in joy, happy to feel alive.
It was then that Zero heard the sound of a groan and a gasp. He turned back towards the rubble to see the worm somehow still alive from the beating he was given. Zero wondered how that brat was still even alive.
He began to gather magic in the palm of his hand with the intent to erase the cockroach from the face of the planet. Instead he snapped his head up and jumped out of the way a wide sword slash that attempted to cut him in half.
"Ahh, Titania, was it?" The destructive personality of Brain gave a bow from atop of left over house ruins. "Besides the Wizard Saints, you and Alexandra where some of the mages I warned my members against—so imagine my disappointment at how easily it was to actually defeat the latter. Hopefully, you won't make the same mistake the Southern Captain did and protect her dead weight allies. She might have had a chance if she just let me destroy some of them before our battle could begin."
At that, Erza tensed. Alexandra was her equal when they last fought, perhaps she would have even lost with how the bronze gladiator's magic countered many of her main abilities, but at the same time it gave her some hope. Alexandra had to protect, while she could fight Brain nearly unabated. Though she was also exhausted from her battle with the Griever. "You will fall this night, Brain!"
It was as if somehow, somewhere, the sound of glass shattering could be heard by after an abrupt silence. The leader of Oracion Seis lost his jovial look and for a moment of eternity, his eyes stilled. " ...Brain? I. AM. NOT. BRAIN!"
It was the last second before the bomb clock hit zero. They thought the man named Zero was powerful? Allow him to correct that understatement in the bloodiest way possible.
Titania wasn't expecting a near instant teleport, followed by a burst of magical power that almost made her lose consciousness. It was too bad that he was nowhere near done after his first attack.
"Brain wasn't the one who lived in a damned state of stasis that was neither and both life and death! He wasn't the one trapped within the confides of his own mind!" He charged after Erza as she tried to change tactics, but that went as well as the idea that furniture in Fairy Tail's guild would last more than a week before needing replacement. The S-Class mage of Fairy Tail struggled greatly and despite her attempts to change armor, none of them seemed to help in keeping up with Zero's assault.
"He wasn't the one watching everything around his life, but not being able to interact with it!" Somehow, Zero's power and speed grew, and Erza was losing, if not already throwing away her hopes she might have had a chance in beating her opponent. "It was like tying a prisoner dying of thirst a few precious millimeters away from a fountain FOR ALMOST 35 YEARS!"
In one attempt, Erza was forced to change into her Adamanite armor and wasting no time, she placed her shields together and braced for impact. The scary thing though was the expected attack never came.
What did come were small tendrils slipping through the cracks of her shield, and suddenly pushing both giant tower shields away, leaving the S-class mage face first with something akin to a demon of wrath. Erza, even though staring right at him, was distracted enough for one moment to react to that fist coming in close to her.
Erza fell like a falling star right through one of the houses. To her credit as Fairy Tail's S-class mage, she was able to roll with the impact and slide into her Lightning Empress armor and hold her slightly twitching arm towards her opponent who walked through the dust cloud without a sense of attention to the destruction he caused.
Instead, there was a burning hatred in Brain's new red eyes that felt like they were looking right through the famed mage of Fairy Tail. "My name, is Zero. And I am never giving this body back to Brain."
Erza was slightly confused, but at the same time this new name felt as if it was explaining this strange change than from what she knew about the Oracion Seis leader. Almost like a second personality? Was someone that dangerous hiding an even deadlier personality? Her questions had to be answered later because right now, she had to hold the line until Wendy could heal the others, or if Kain could regain consciousness again. But just a few seconds in, it was obvious Bra—Zero, was far more powerful than she expected to face. What she did know was that calling him Brain instead of Zero would no doubt cause another dangerous burst of anger and magic.
"Hey, Brain!"
And if possible, a vein appeared on the towering man's forehead, he turned around, seeing a group of people standing atop of a building with the tower shadow hiding most of their figure.
However, Erza and a recently awakened Kain then watched three figures attack Zero with a flurry of light, fire, and a giant fist like blast. Zero made a motion with his palm and with one swipe, used a fast wave of his dark, ghostly magic to swat away all incoming attacks going his way. He counter attacked and sent a malevolent and giant soul monster to charge right for the newcomers, only for them to easily avoid the rampaging beast.
Out of the shadow were people Erza least expected: Genji of Phantom Lord, Happy, and Natsu, seeming fine and well despite being roughed up, and the person who she never would have even fathomed to have come to her rescue, Jellal Fernandez. No words could explain the emotions of what she was feeling at that moment, except that it was anything but singular. To see his face, and seemingly teaming up with Natsu of all people, confusion was slowly rising out of her other emotions.
"Natsu!?" Kain woke up to the presence of the pink haired dragon slayer and got back up. "What are you doing with Jellal?!"
"I've betrayed Oracion Seis. I cannot allow them to destroy the Magic Council and engage in a war over Fiore." The man answered himself before turning his eyes towards Zero. "Though, you seem different from we last met, Brain."
At the name of Brain, Zero's magic spiked up tremendously. The man looked ready to explode both metaphorically and literally. "Oh for crying out loud! How many blasted times to I gotta say that I'm Zero! The true owner of this body, the true leader of Oracion Seis! NOT BRAIN!"
"We don't care what you call yourself!" Off all times to hear Gray's voice, this surely was one of the good times to hear such a thing as he, along with Ignis and the other alliance members beaten by Zero, flew out of the hole that dropped them into the core of Nirvana.
"You're going down, hard!" Gray finished off as they all jumped out, all readying their magic to fight against the leader of Oracion Seis.
"Fools! All of you!" Zero cried out before unleashing an amazing amount of power that caused his hair to start to flow upward. "You think I can't beat all of you!? You're all more injured than before!"
It was at that moment, a large shadow casted over the group. Everyone looked up to see something they were not expecting: a giant, flying ship in the shape of a pegasus.
"Ahoy everyone down below!" A telepathic link resounded in the minds of all listening. It was a voice that belonged to a certain member of Blue Pegasus. "I see you've all done well while we've been away."
"H-Hibiki?" Kain's voice reached the link while he slowly got back and gawked at the sudden robot, flying ship unicorn. Ignoring how weird that looked, adding into everything else that happened, another emotion shot out of the young man while he was still recovering from Zero's beat down. "Where the hell have you been!? And what the heck is that thing!?"
"It's a long story: before we left, I called Master Bob and asked him to send over this beauty you see here: The Christina, the pride and joy of Blue Pegasus! And we didn't just bring this, you'll never guess who we picked up on our way up here."
Something else distracted everyone that seemed to have come straight from the tower. Many thought it was some leftover defense of Nirvana, but instead, it was revealed to be Zero/Brain's staff, Kloda, flying over to Zero. As he arrived, the staff quickly bowed in shame. "Forgive me sir! I don't know how but—"
Whatever he was about to say wouldn't finish. Two things jumped out of the flying fake pegasus. The two lights fell fast; one white and one gold both landed with gentle, but powerful presence. Seeing both of them enter into the fight caused smiles to appear for everyone in the alliance and made even Zero have his crimson eyes widen in hesitation.
"You brats are lucky." Goldmine swung his arm with a sigh before fixing his hat. "The same attack I used on Hagu worked directly on Makky here too."
"Dr. Ockado," Fairy Tail's Team Valiant couldn't help but smile at the familiar voice and face that no longer showed an ounce of brainwashing while Zero couldn't help but grit his teeth. "I personally want to express my complaints for what you put me through."
"Gramps!" Natsu shouted as he looked up towards the flying vehicle. "You're back to normal!" It was easy for Fairy Tail to feel relieved when seeing their master freed, and everyone else was comforted to know that they now had two more mages on the level of Wizard Saints back in the fight.
Without taking his eyes of Zero, Makarov spoke out with a far more gentle voice, "You brats went through a lot. I'm sorry but I'm also proud of all of you."
"For the eldest in our group, they sure got excited as kids, huh Field Commander?"
"I'm a little surprised that Jellal Fernandes is also there seemingly standing with us than against us. However, it's high time this came to an end, Dr. Ockado, we've captured all of your Oracion Seis mages, surrender to the Magic Council. You have no other options left."
After William Tovar made a comment, Tarsus Steelsoul spoke in the link. There was a brief shout out from the rest of the members, all having some quick conversations with those onboard and down below. Among them was Kara of Phantom Lord missing out all the 'fun' fights, Ren asking what happened since he was last with the group, and others also questioning why Jellal was indeed with them, only to be met with strange silence.
Zero, surrounded by many mages which included the dangerous duo of Makarov and Goldmine, losing all his allies of Oracion Seis, having no more access to Nirvana's defense system, and worst of all, being ignored as if he wasn't even there caused him to scream with a burst of magic.
"You dare ignore me?!" He shrieked to the top of his lungs which stiffened everyone into a fighting position that surrounded Zero in all ends, even above him. "I will—"
Instead of more threats, blood started to cough out of Zero's mouth. A horrible pain caused the powerful personality to fall to his knees while Kloda looked on with worry. "Master Zero! The body you have...!"
(What!?) Zero's thoughts screamed. (I saw him make those seals to prevent this sickness! Why is it failing!?)
The pain suddenly multiplied, forcing Zero to lurch forward, using one of his hands to keep him from falling face on the ground with his other hand to somehow mitigate his bloody coughs.
Zero could feel his enemies magic slowly fading while they all circled closer to him.
"It's over, Dr, Ockado. You lose." Tarsus' link spread throughout the area.
It practically boiled the blood of Zero hearing words he refused to believe were true. (No. No! NO! This is not the way, the true master of Oracion Seis will go!)
(Stop whining for a moment and then you can do something about it.)
Time slowed down while Zero's mind moved at speeds Racer would have been alarmed at. (Y-You!)
(Hello, Zero. Now you know how those coughing fits feel.)
(How dare you, Brain! These-These pieces of vile dirt lower than the worst of shit are going to beat us without barely a fight! And it's all your fault! You kept me bound in your mind!)
(All you offered before and even now are still the same: mindless violence. That has never been my goal and we both know given the chance that we would kill each other. I simply acted first and trapped you away before you could ruin everything I worked for.)
(Damn you and your plans! You stole my right to live!)
(Enough! We can circle jerk ourselves like we used to later. Now? For once in our shared life, we need to work together to get out of this.)
(And why should I help you? You took my body for decades!)
Zero was met with a very ominous silence as his response. Even though their thoughts were moving so fast, it felt like an eternity before Brain answered his accusation.
(You know why. I was memory proofed in Level 0… you, a second personality, a second soul even… had his own memories protected in my seals. Through your memories, we both know what is behind that door. What the Magic Council is hiding from everyone—even themselves when it is staring right back at them.)
For the first time, both personalities were silent and in an impossible state of agreement.
(Zero, even if you seal me away or kill me. Do you really want that life knowing about that-that thing those utter fools cling to like a life line?)
(… Just tell me what you've planned, Brain.)
(Grab on to Kloda, quick!)
And Zero did, snapping everyone back into defensive stances. Zero stood back up and suddenly pointed the end of Kloda's staff towards his stomach.
"I'd rather die than be captured by all of you!" In a move that no one was expecting, Zero stabbed Kloda through his stomach. He ended up coughing up even more blood and then fell to his knees with his eye balls rolling upward.
Every mage except Kain could feel the magic energy pretty much vanish from the master of Oracion Seis even though his body still remained kneeling.
The people who had fought almost every bloody hour since this day first began… could only stare at the rather anticlimactic end to this all.
Well… almost everyone.
"What the heck! I wanted to kick his butt!" Natsu stomped his foot with bits of fire coming out his mouth.
"Natsu, you battle hungry neanderthal," Kain now standing up and walking up to him. "You are the only one who wanted that."
"But I totally could have beaten him myself! I can't believe it was that easy!" The Dragon slayer screamed out.
Gray was the first to get mad, for the wrong reasons. "Easy?! Hey, where the heck even were you a while ago after we beat the Oracion Seis members!?"
"That was different!"
"Enough, you two idiots!" Makarov shouted before the ice and fire mage froze to silence. He put a hand on his head and sighed. "The first thing when my memory comes back is hearing you two fight again. I'm not even guild master anymore dang it."
Goldmine gave a soft chuckle at his friend's annoyance.
However, the kind air was cut short when Lahar raised a gun, Riana of the White Tiger Division pointed her blade, and Doranbolt teleported with William and Tarsus to surround Jellal Fernandes.
"Jellal Fernandes," Tarsus Steelsoul began after silence set foot once more. "You're under arrest for multiple S-class crimes. Will you resist as well?"
There was a quiet but noticeable rise of magical power coming from those directly from the Magic Council. Natsu and Erza could only stare with strange amount of silence as Jellal looked back at the large, armored Rune Knight.
Jellal raised both of his arms. "I surrender." He spoke those two words quietly.
At that, Tarsus stepped in, and cuffed the blue haired mage's hands to his back. The magical casts around him vanished, and Jellal winced in pain but still managed to keep himself standing.
Everyone wanted to know what was going on and wondered why Jellal was with them in the first place. However, there was a sudden humming and a violent shake that many recognized to come from the center core of Nirvana.
"Wendy! Is she alright?" Kain spoke as he took a step forward towards the core.
"She's fine." Gray was first to say. "She woke us all up, healed the worst of our wounds, and after Alexandra over there helped with the broken and mossy automaton, we left her down there so she could shut off Nirvana for good."
"Soooo… is that it?" Jason Dracoblood of Phantom lord asked as he looked around. "Did we win?"
Tarsus Steelsoul, the Rune Knight Field Commander, looked around, seeing everyone but Wendy in their group. "I suppose we—"
He was interrupted when the sound of a heart beat echoed with all the force of a scream being bounced around in a valley.
Around Zero's skin, new runes appeared, no longer a bunch of straight lines, more circular, more mystical, more ancient styled lines marked across his skin. His eyes snapped open, with his right eye being blood red and the other eyes being an almost empty white.
He slammed his hand into the ground. "ƷƟƱ!" around a hundred multi-colored snakes exploded from the leader of the Oracion Seis's area and all of them attacking everyone in the vicinity faster than they could put their guards back up. The many snakes coiled around the alliance members and quickly trapped all of them in cocoon like pods of frozen snake symbols.
Up above, Jura, Kara, and the remaining Blue Pegasus members looked down with worry.
"Brain is still alive!? Was that suicide attempt a feint to let us lower our guards?!" Jura cried out.
Ichiya pointed to Hibiki and Ren with a pose. "You two, stay in the ship, the rest of us will go down—"
Sadly for those in the Christina ship, massive versions of the snake spell Dr. Ockado used on the others. Everyone in the ship attempted to gather magic, but to their surprise, an uncountable number of snakes broke through the glass and swarmed all the drivers before they could even gather magic. Soon, even the Christina was wrapped in a much larger snake seal much like everyone else.
And just like that… the entire Alliance was defeated in one turn about move…
Laughter filled the empty air as the one who had shown an impressive display of power could only cackle and feel like a brand new man.
"This," As the first word escaped his mouth, one could almost swear there were two similar voices speaking at the same time. "This is amazing! All those experiments, all that time researching and I was right! This power is AMAZING!"
The man pulled out Kloda, as he did so, not an ounce of blood was spilled from the pull and markings covered his entire stomach.
Kloda, who seemed to regain sentience, looked up to his master in surprise. "Master Zero?! Y-You—this power!?"
"Wonderful isn't it, Kloda?" At that, Zero flexed, and in the nearby area, more debris shattered into even smaller rocks. "It's called the Second Origin. After years of studying the Ethernano, I found out human beings have another container for magic that's almost never touched upon. I remember even telling Jellal about this." Zero spoke as he looked over to the seal where the former councilman was.
"W-Wait, sir, if you were capable of this much power with it, why didn't you use it sooner? Why not use it all of the Oracion Seis members?!" The staff asked in shock.
"Because it was a last resort of mine." Zero's tone suddenly sounded more like Brain's than his own. "The true reason why the Second Origin was never accessed until today was because in theory, it needed time magic to access—that is near impossible to find. I was only able to do so due to certain circumstances." Zero paused as he looked away from Kloda.
"I have a job for you, Kloda."
The staff couldn't have straightened up fast enough. "Y-Yes sir?"
"Go back down to the core and stop the emissary of Nirvana's makers." Zero stepped forward as two of his seals were starting to break. "Stop her and activate Nirvana."
Kloda followed the word of his master without a second thought, snaking through one of the holes.
Meanwhile, Zero watched as two of his seals exploded, leaving a very pissed off Goldmine and Makarov.
Zero, against two powerful and experienced mages, only stepped forward without a trace of fear. "This power is amazing. Before, all I could do was pin you two against each other in hopes that you'd both take each other out. Now? I have enough confidence to take both of you on at the same time." After saying that, Zero unleashed a wave of power that made his oppressive aura from before look like an abysmal joke.
However, Makarov and Goldmine stepped forward, both unleashing powerful auras of their own.
"It doesn't matter how much power you have, good Dr. Ocakado," Makarov cried out as he swung his hand out. "You're not going to win against the two of us."
Anyone other sane person would fear to fight Makarov, one of the long time Wizard Saints along with his companion of similar level and longtime teammate. However, Zero only laughed at the notion that was placed before him. "Two on one? Why, didn't you know?"
Zero's eyes both turned completely red and soon his shadow started to move without the large man making any move himself. It grabbed onto the floor, entering into three dimensions before it stood up, the shadow fading and another person with the same exact face, but darker skin and white eyes stood beside Zero.
Brain and Zero spoke as one. "Now, it's two on two!"
Down below, Kloda spotted Wendy and Carla looking at the robotic Exemplar. While everyone was above, the Exemplar had inscribed many old runes across the core of Nirvana and seemed to finish.
Wendy seemed determined as she stood atop a rune that looked much like her guild mark.
Kloda panicked as he saw the girl about to start the sealing process. However, he knew he could do very little to actually stop them at his state. What was Master Zero thinking?! All he could do was control The Machina King and he already felt it being…
Wait.
The body of the Machina King was right there…
Meanwhile, Wendy and Carla watched as the moving black core of Nirvana raged against the runes written by the Exemplar Automaton. As it finished, it stared at Wendy and slowly but gently motioned it's hand towards the orb as the fixed arm turned back into a harp.
Wendy began to inhale, but instead of hearing the sound of a melody, she heard the sound of steel clanging on the ground.
She turned around, seeing the body of the Machina King rising once more, but this time with orange lights coming out of it's sockets. There was another glow of orange, coming from the hole in it's torso.
"I refuse to let you seal Nirvana once more!" Kloda's voice begain as it rose its blade, only to bring it back down to avoid an optic blast from The Exemplar. The mossy robot didn't hesitate to make a move towards the other ancient robot. All the while, Wendy made a move—
"Wendy, you must sing! Stop Nirvana's core, before something else tries to stop you!" Carla shouted as the two old robots began beating each other up.
The blue haired girl was nervous. Whenever she was taught to sing and dance, it was because it was under much kinder circumstances. She really didn't want to sing, if she could even sing well enough under pressure-
"you're going to prove yourself in the future."
Her voice had a strange calming affect, even though she was no longer there. Wendy breathed in deeply. Many people had protected and saved her for this moment. It's time she returned the favor.
And then, she began to sing.
"NO!" Kloda cried out as he pushed the Exemplar out of the way and stabbed the gravity blade and the stone blade into the ground. The combined magic of the two caused the ground beneath the magical core to shoot upward, away from Wendy and back up into the surface of the isle... and past even that.
Carla acted fast, chasing after the core by picking up Wendy and flying after the moving core and the runes as it reached higher in the sky.
Kloda made a motion to follow after them, but the Exemplar tackled the opposing machine down with fiercer resistance.
Up above, Carla and Wendy flew after the now floating platform that seemed to suspend itself mid air above the already elevated sky isle. The core started to trash around, even seemingly cracking the floating runes the Exemplar put up. Wendy inhaled and began singing once more, which slowed down the core and caused the runes to start glowing even brighter.
Down below, Zero, Brain, Makarov, and Goldmine all spotted the core shoot up higher than where they were.
"Don't let her finish that!" Brain cried out as he made a large bound to the sky with intent to blast the little girl and cat out of the sky.
However, he saw a gold light shine like the sun behind him. Brain looked back before he was smashed down by a golden bear and Goldmine's kick. Brain landed on the platform with a deafening crack as the floor beneath him became a crater, yet even then he looked as if he was more angry than hurt. Brain then made a teleport spell, blinking away from his existence then appearing right behind the singing girl and the flying cat.
Yet, the moment he appeared, he was kicked down again due to Goldmine with his gold soul taking the form of some ghostly, humanoid figure with armor reminiscent of Chinese dark armor that held no head, but a lantern on one hand and Chinese sword in it's right one.
"Hey, pick on someone your on power level, brat." Goldmine spoke out as he stepped towards Brain.
The calmer personality looked up and saw that one of the runes made by the Exemplar were attaching itself into the core of Nirvana and as it did, the core started to shrink.
Brain, looked back at Goldmine and that new soul that he didn't recognize. Brain acted fast, "Confusion Burst!" A yellow orb of energy the size of a house sped fast towards Goldmine.
However, the Quatro Cerberus Guild Master looked up, and spoke out, "Gilded Aura: Jīng guǐ!"
The attack of Brain, with speed that almost no one expected, circled fast behind Goldmine with the intent to take the guild master by surprise. Yet Goldmine knew that this attack was a feint from the start. The old teammate of Makarov noticed Brain vanish after he called out the attack; he knew he was going for Wendy a second time. Luckily for Goldmine, his special spell, Jīng guǐ, was based of an exotic creature that could track and catch teleport based magic, and Brain didn't realize it.
Goldmine's soul pointed it's lantern towards an area above Wendy. As it did, it reared it's blade behind Goldmine. Then, in less than a second, Brain appeared, attempting to get to Wendy faster than before. However, The lantern of the Jīng guǐ glowed and Goldmine appeared the same moment as Brain, right in between him and Wendy.
Brain was caught off guard, but that didn't stop Goldmine from making his soul slash at the stupefied Brain, canceling his attack and sending plummeting down like a meteor.
Meanwhile in their previous fighting spot, Zero raised his fist and jumped for Makarov. The third master of Fairy Tail raised a pillar white magic to meet the punch of the master of Oracion Seis.
The result was a powerful shockwave that blew away the area and caused the white pillar to crack under the force of the attack.
"Out of my way, you rotting, old worm! Nirvana is mine!" Zero exclaimed as he removed his fist and put both his hands together. Both hands were empowered with a see through skull of a screaming soul and he brought it down on the pillar of light, shattering it into pieces—and seeing Makarov preparing over a dozen, different elemental magical circles behind it?
"ELEMENTUM: TEMPESTAS RUPTOR!" Makrov shouted as all magic circles he primed fired a torrent of element that exploded towards Zero in the form of a beam. The wilder personality put up a barrier of his own. However, it melted like butter and soon, he was sent flying from the force of the attack.
Both Zero and Brain ended up crashing into each other from their respective opponents' attack.
Makarov and Goldmine moved like bullets towards the two, giving them no intention of recovery while they were injured. Makarov gathered energy as he speed, small pieces of light gathered in both his fists while from above, Goldmine switched back to his Cerberus Aura, with all three heads glaring at the two downed targets.
They got within range of their attacks—and that's when both Zero and Brain had their eyes snap open with smirks on both of their faces. They both moved fast, slamming one hand each into the ground where a magic circle appeared and spread beneath them faster than the two former teammates could expect.
It exploded with light that engulfed the Third Master and the founder of Quatro Cerberus before they could reach Zero and Brain.
When the light died down, both Makarov and Goldmine had found themselves in a plaza of a large city. The two looked around, those people who were still up at night stared in surprise at the two men who had appeared out of thin air.
"Goldmine, we're in Crocus!" Makarov shouted as he recognized the familiar scenery.
"Damn it! Instead of him, they teleported us out!" Goldmine shifted his soul, turning it into a large, eight legged horse. "Gilded Aura: Sleipner!" He hopped on top of his own soul while Makarov jumped and landed behind him. The golden aura beast made a neigh before it galavanted out of the Capital of Fiore with amazing speed, even running into the sky of all things.
As some people watched the two men fly into the distance on an eight legged horse, a certain group of people managed to spot them.
"Wait, was that Master Makarov?!" Alzack Connell cried out and pointed to where their missing master previously was.
"And that other man: that was Master Goldmine!" Biclow mentioned as well as he looked in the direction both of them left.
"W-What were they doing here!? Was Master with Goldmine all this time? And why did they look so frantic?!" Evergreen was obviously confused as to how their sudden hunt for there missing master had a turn that no one was expecting.
"Everyone, calm down. We've spotted Master Makarov, we can't lose him now!" Freed Justine kept everyone back in order. "After him, or else the trail will get cold again!"
The team hunting for their missing master, bolted after the two in their own way.
However, even at the speed of which they were going, the two masters wouldn't make it back in time to the Worthwood Sea.
Back on Nirvana, Brain and Zero stood back up, no longer seeing their opponents.
"Even with all that power, they were still beating us!?" Zero stomped in anger, causing whatever building near them to shatter from the pressure alone.
Brain dusted himself off. "Master Makarov and Goldmine have more years of experience under their belt. They know how to fight those with even or better power than them." He then looked up and glared. "Now then, there was a sealing I need to stop. I won't risk teleporting on the off chance Goldmine can still track me after tagging me twice with that spell of his."
Carla panicked as she saw the light and her heart started to beat even harder when she sensed Makarov and Goldmine disappear. A part of her knew that there was no way the Oracion Seis could so easily get rid of Makarov and Goldmine when they were winning, but she did recognize they did something to incapacitate them. If she thought it was bad then, she realized one of the two leaders was looking directly at her. Only around fifty percent of the seals were absorbed into the core! They needed more time!
Brain made a leap that could go over a skyscraper in a single bound right for Wendy.
Carla closed her eyes, thinking this might be the end—
"STAY AWAY FROM HER!"
Previously, as the Core rose from the inner level of Nirvana, the seals of the alliance all started to shake. One of them, started heat up until a familiar pink haired dragon slayer punched out of his circular prison.
"Gah! Who did that!? I'll kick their butt!"
A second later, an orb seal not too far from the dragon slayer cracked and shattered into pieces, revealing a slightly confused armored wyvern rider.
"Ugh, my head..." Kain was really wishing he was just having a hangover, it would have made so much more sense. Unfortunately, he was having that throbbing headache sober. Whoop-de-do.
"Huh, why do I hear singing… Whoa!?" Natsu was distracted for a second and looked up. Kain did so as well and they both saw the core of Nirvana high up in the sky. They looked up just in time to see Goldmine strike Brain down away from a singing Wendy.
They were also distracted by a wave of elemental magic coming from the opposite end of Nirvana. Natsu could tell that was the third master's magic and the two wordlessly watched as Goldmine and Makarov made a dash for their opponents… then get caught in a last second trap.
"Those bastards! They totally cheated!" Natsu shouted, though they were too far to be heard.
However, the two noticed Brain getting ready to attack Wendy once more. The two acted fast, and with Happy still out of it, Kain grabbed on to Natsu and flew as fast as he could to intercept Brain. As they saw flew, they saw Brain inching closer towards Wendy and Carla.
And there was no way that they'd let that attack connect!
"STAY AWAY FROM HER!"
Two voices powered through the sky that came from below. Brain, instinctively learning his lesson from Goldmine, summoned an orbed shield around him. However, something flew past and right in front of him, revealing it to be…
"Now, Natsu!"
A Flash of pink and red punched the shield with amazing force that smashed it back down from where Brain started. Brain undid his orb and looked absolutely livid that there were still people to defend the sealers of Nirvana!
"Where are you cockroaches coming from!? I sealed the rest of you away to be brainwashed by Nirvana later!" Brain unleashed his aura, showing an impressive power display that was akin to Zero's. Speaking of his more violent counter part, Zero walked up to his calmer counterpart, eyeing his two new, or old, opponents.
It was the dragon slayer of Fairy Tail and the red armored boy. Both of them were standing in fighting positions, and facing down the leaders of Oracion Seis with fearsome glares.
Natsu slammed a fist into his chest. "That dumb seal won't work on me! I burned through it! And magic doesn't work well on Kain!"
"Kinda wishing we had time to free the others though… or that we weren't so distracted..." The armored young man off handedly commented.
"And what makes you think the two of you can stop us now? One of you barely even touched me before this power up." Zero aimed his sight at Kain in particular.
"We can take you both on!" Natsu pounded his fists together that lit a flame.
Kain on the other hand was hesitant, but at a quick glance behind him, his attitude changed. "That, and for us to win, we just have to hold both of you off until Wendy finishes the seal!"
The two personalities from the same body had their eyes snapped open when they looked up to see the core of Nirvana shrink even smaller.
Brain and Zero needed to stop the permanent sealing of Nirvana while Kain and Natsu had to hold off two potential Wizard Saint level threats long enough for Wendy to finish.
Natsu and Kain charged, the former igniting his white flame while the latter activated his wings. Brain And Zero unleashed war cries to meet their obstacles and plow them down.
The clock was ticking.
It was the final count down to the war for Nirvana.
And it's last leg began with anything but a whimper. Natsu attacked first, aiming for Zero who only smiled and caught his enflamed fist before backhanding him through several buildings.
Kain was a little more cautious, throwing flashbangs right at Brain, who with a swipe of his hand, made all those toys vanish into thin air. In response, Kain slashed several sword beams only for Brain to push a palm out and motion two fingers upward. The result was a beam of green, yellow, and red energy exploding upward beneath the beam and hitting the armored Wyvern Rider away.
Brain looked over to Zero. "These two are far weaker. Hold them off while I finish the girl and the cat off."
"Don't turn your back on me!" Natsu screamed as he flew towards Brain with fist first. He unleashed several punches that even Brain could easily avoid. After avoiding a punch, Brain threw his own punch, making Natsu buckle backward only to get punched by Zero, who laughed at how easy this new fight was. He then followed it up with an uppercut that made Natsu go high into the sky. Then fall back into the ground.
However, that didn't stop him for long as Natsu got back up and ignite white flames once more, this time enveloping his body. "Ivory Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!"
A stream of white flames jettisoned towards the two with the same face. They both sensed this attack would actually hurt them, in retaliation the two gathered magic in their hands and swung their arm downward from above. "Espada: Blood!" "Espeda: Dark!"
Two energy pillars, one red and one dark green tore through Natsu's attacks and exploded, sending Natsu back by quite a bit and making him land like a skipped stone.
There was a hum in the air that forced Brain and Zero to look back up. As they did, they saw the orb of Nirvana Shrinking smaller than even the girl singing to it! It was almost all gone!
Brain no longer could take it. This time he charged his attack then he teleported, risking the off chance Goldmine would appear. Goldmine didn't appear, much to Brain's relief thenunleashed a powerful wave of dark energy in the direction he was facing. An explosion was the result of the powerful beam that filled the sky.
However, something was wrong for Brain, he could still sense the girl's magic! But that was impossible, he sent that attack head on—wait. The smoke that was clearing, why did he see… red…
Brain screamed in frustration as he used his magic to blow away the dust. He was hoping to see the dead corpse of a little girl, not a red wyvern rider, with dusty, cracked, and weakened armor. The surprising fact was that behind Kain, his left arm was pointed back, with his hand swallowed in a small, golden orb.
"Y-You won't get her." Kain managed to gasp out as his armor kept him in the sky. It appeared that Kain used the Omni Tool to cover around Wendy while she was still singing. Inside, both Carla and Wendy were confused, but the Cait Shelter Mage just had this feeling she needed to continue singing.
"I... won't... let you..." The armored rider gasped.
A bright light came from below, showing that the symbol of Cait Shelter was slowly floating upwards to the core. It was the last rune from the Exemplar, meaning that the seal was almost complete!
For a moment, Brain was much like Zero in that his eyes only saw red. He punched Kain in the face, only for the armored rider to stand(fly) his ground. "If you want... the shield to go down, you're ...going to have to get through... me."
"That's not a threat, that's an invitation!" Brain shouted as he then began punch, kick, blast—whatever combat attack possible.
Keep in mind his attack were around Wizard Saint level. While Kain's armor did nullify certain magics, that didn't mean he couldn't feel like he was being punched with the weight of an elephant with each strike and even with his armor taking in the magical blasts, there was still an added impact to each heavy blow. Kain, to some of his credit, tried to defend himself, but considering he was locked in place, and had only one free arm while even having all of his skills barely did anything to Brain before hand, the result would have been the same without him trying to resist.
Natsu woke up from where he was knocked down and sensed the increasing spike of magic. He looked up and stared in horror to see his friend taking in powerful hits just to protect Wendy.
"WHY!? WON'T!? YOU!? FALL!?" After each scream, Brain's attack got more intensive, more powerful, but somehow, some way, Kain took them all on.
"Tr-Trust me," Kain managed to cough out. "I'm bloody wondering the same thing!"
Brain forsook all normal forms of attacks and simply went straight for magic powered strangulation by using both his hands to vice grip around Kain's way too vulnerable neck. The armored wyvern rider struggled and gasped under the strangle. He attempted to use his free hand to summon a blade and strike at Brain, only for him to release one hand to capture the wrist and crush it with enough force to make Kain let go of his blade that harmlessly fell into the ground.
"Kain!" Natsu forced himself up and started to make a beeline for his friend.
Zero looked back at Natsu and, after intercepting him, kicked him in the face. "This is what awaits all those who are weak! To be crushed by overwhelming power!"
Natsu didn't care about that, he needed to save his friend! He won't let him die… he…
If it wasn't for you, Bella would still be alive!
A-After he beat this jerk, he would get to Brain and save…
YOU! IT'S YOUR FAULT EVE'S DEAD!
The though of another death brought something to Natsu Dragneel that he never really felt. Was all of this... his fault? Come to think of it, Lucy and Kain were really worried about this mission going in, while he was just really excited to fight strong opponents. Even after beating up some of the assholes that were killing animals, he still couldn't help but want to fight and beat someone strong, even though just moments ago he was told that he needed to be careful in this mission. Then, when the base fell and Wendy was captured and that Rune Knight lady was killed. A lot of people blamed him on it. It wasn't fair, and he thought they were just being jerks. But maybe some of it got to him without noticing? And Natsu knew it wasn't his fault for Eve and Sherry, but then again, maybe things might have been different if he listened? And now that he was thinking about it, him rushing into things got Richard knocked out pretty quick...
All those mistakes, Natsu never really thought about it being his fault. But seeing Kain take on hits that he knew would have killed him a hundred times over without his armor just to protect Wendy? Natsu couldn't help but feel… guilt.
That word, guilt.
It triggered a recent memory.
Back in Sun Village, Atlas Flame had just finished another tale of both Igneel and his youth. Natsu and Happy were laughing to the best capacity of their lungs after hearing that embarrassing tale involving sprites, a clown bear, and hunger.
"And the worst part of it all," The dragon comprised of flames continued after their laughter died a bit, or rather when their lungs needed a break. "Igneel was moping for maybe a whole year about that event."
"Huh," Natsu looked up in surprise. "I never figured Igneel would mope."
The two visitors could tell there was a sudden shift in tone as Atlas Falme stilled from the simple comment. "Igneel moped more than any dragon or living being I've met. The thing was though, I don't blame him, especially with how many responsibilities he had. He never showed it to anyone. I only found out about it because I knew there were these moments where his smile seemed a little more forced along with his confident bursts."
This made the dragon slayer raise his brow in confusion. Why did Atlas Flame willing shift the topic to something far more sensitive? "Why are you telling me this?"
Atlas turned to Natsu. For a second, the young man almost regretted asking out loud. However, it wasn't really cause for alarm as Atlas answered, "I see Igneel so much in you, but I'm afraid you also might make the same mistakes he did that, even for someone as powerful as him, led him to having his heart broken and soul stolen."
There was a quiet in the air as Atlas implied that tragedy again. "Natsu, promise me that when you do make a mistake, don't let it consume you. Don't dwell on what could have been or what you should have done, because thinking of 'what if's' never helps. But most of all, have enough power to forgive yourself for making those mistakes. I wish Igneel did that more often. I wish I told him when I still had the chance to." Atlas looked up to the sky after saying that, as if trying to see something that was no longer there.
He looked back down and asked a favor of his friend's foster son. "Over all, don't let your guilt blind you from what must be done and still save what you still have."
"Dad..." Natsu gritted his teeth and forced himself back up. "You had great friends too, huh?"
Something was changing, inside Natsu. He just knew that he couldn't let his friend just die like this. He might have failed before, he might have reacted wrong before. But, now? He couldn't let more people pay for his mistakes. He'd right this wrong, and accept all it's faults.
Zero didn't seem to care as he swaggered forward, and placed a palm gathering energy right in front of Natsu's head while it still hung low. "What luck, you get to die with your friend!"
A blast of dark souls engulfed Natsu in point blank range—that suddenly was engulfed into a massive burst of white flames.
Zero looked in confusion before a fist found his cheek and slammed him with enough force like he did with Natsu so long ago.
Brain sensed the massive power spike coming from behind him, which forced him into turning around. He was greeted with the sight of white fire and an incoming left hook for his troubles.
BAM!
Brain flew like a meteor, crashed like one too even though he was hit into and through the large control tower.
Seeing as he was no longer struggling for air, Kain gasped to breathe in as much oxygen as he could. He was still hurt, but his armor was slowly forming back to normal. To his surprise, he saw Natsu who landed back on the ground. As the fires dimmed, the steam and pressure around him didn't. He even had red looking scales over his skin, reminding him of the time he had found him a little after Jellal had used the Elf Blade on him. And not just appearance, the ground seemed to be glowing hot just by Natsu simply standing.
Kain heard of it before, Dragon Force, he saw Gajeel use it before, but this time, with Natsu, he was not only putting off more power, but he had a secondary magic amplifier with his white flame mode. Those two power boosts were giving Natsu enough power to take on both Leaders of Oracion Seis by himself?
"N-Natsu?" Kain whispered as the dragon slayer looked up… and smiled.
"Yo, Kain! You alright!?"
"… I will never ever make fun of deus ex machina power ups again for as long as I live." Anyone could argue or insult Kain over such a little comment. But considering how badly he was being beaten up by powerful opponents, having a shonen protagonist for a friend with miracle power ups made him a lot more grateful than any other person in the cosmos.
Zero reappeared, gathering an intense amount of magic before blasting Natsu's back. Only for the empowered dragon slayer to turn, inhale, and unleash a spew of white flames that almost looked like a laser.
Kain turned around as he heard something cracking, he looked back to see Brain heading right for him. However, the young man blinked and then saw Natsu, somehow closing the distance between them like teleportation, and throwing Brain overhead down to where Zero had fallen.
The boy from another world was so in awe at all the DBZ level stuff happening that he was distracted when a large light surrounded him. The Cait Shelter Symbol now floated just beside the now small core of Nirvana. The symbol itself seemed to come to life, acting like a regular cat as it moved towards the core and placed a palm on it. With the Runic cat placing a palm on the orb, the core of Nirvana moved to life. It wasn't like the trashing from before, it was kind of like a real ball, spinning and seeming almost playful and inviting. As the last rune continued to touch the orb, the black core slowly started to turn white from the outside moving inward.
"No! It's about to be sealed!" Brain shouted as he got back up.
Zero got up as well, but looked at Natsu in his dragon force mode walking over towards the two of them. "Who cares about that!? That worm, how dare he make me look like a fool!? I am the one who stands above all beings!"
"Will you shut up about your stupid obsession with being the best!?" Brain looked to Zero. "If Nirvana falls, everything we planned will be for nothing!"
"It was your plans! Not a single thing was ever mine!" Zero pointed at Brain with all the condemnation of a judge. "And you stole it all from me!"
Brain was silent for a moment. He looked directly into Zero's eyes and his gaze seemed to soften. "I did steal it all from you, didn't I? I'm sorry."
Zero's anger momentarily left him as he saw the serious look in Brain's eyes.
"I have a deal to make with you," He threw an open palm out. "Accept it, and I can make sure you get whatever you want, even a new life without me."
Zero narrowed his eyes. "What are you plotting this time, Brain?"
"Not really a plot this time, I'm just… really tired of arguing with you." The white eyed man looked up to the sky, seeing the finishing touches on the core as it started to face. "I remember fearing you my whole life… but I don't ever recall hating you, no matter how many times we argued and fought."
Zero was silent, but seeing Natsu come closer, with all the confidence that a worm like him shouldn't have, couldn't make him grab back on to Brain's hand fast enough.
As they connected, a flash of black light exploded from where the two were. When the light died down, there was now only one body instead of two. He wore the same green uniform that Zero had, had the skin tone of Brain, and this time neither eyes were red or white, they were both black with red pupils.
Natsu didn't hesitate and unleashed an empowered version of Fire Dragon's Iron Fist. The attack was impressive, but his opponent was able to catch the fist with an energy of black and red colored spectered ghosts. Natsu powered through and threw his other hand which the new form of both Zero and Brain caught.
The two then pushed forward as their massive magical powers collided, causing different magical sources to clash much like it would in DBZ auras.
Kain, seeing the new powered up version of Brain and Zero only stared and reacted the only way he could. "I take back my take back. Miracle power ups are bullshit, especially if you give one to the bad guy too!" He turned back to the orb. "Wendy, I don't think you can hear me in there, but can you some how hurry up with the seal!?"
It seemed like Fate was about to give the displaced young man a freebie as the core started to hum. It wasn't like it's wild trashing before, it was almost like… it was also singing in tune with Wendy's music.
Zero and Brain saw this, the seal, which Kain would complain was being stupidly slow, was starting to finalize. He stepped forward, which surprised Natsu, and threw him up into the air. He was thrown into an angle that if Natsu was to move, Kain, Wendy, and Carla would all be in the line of fire.
"Omega Alpha!" Brain and Zero's two voices shouted out loud as the two magics appeared on different hands, "Crossed Spell..."
Natsu saw this and he could feel that his friends were in the line of fire. Brain and Zero were planning to end this all in one move. The dragon slayer would not let this happen! "Ivory Force: Dragon's…
"DUALITY BURST!"
"ROAR!"
Fire and darkness shot out like beams and clashed with one another. The battle of beams would have been epic if Kain was not so distracted at how familiar this all looked.
Then, the lawyer of Fairy Tail felt it, he turned around to see the last rune disappearing and the core of Nirvana, no smaller than a base ball, float towards Wendy. Kain undid the orb and Wendy was seen still singing, though her tempo was faster and it seemed like she too was almost finished.
Wendy put her hands out and the orb of Nirvana levitated slowly to her hands.
Brain and Zero saw this and unleashed even more power into their attack. This was the last push needed. Zero and Brain, in one united mine pushed with all their strength, blasting back Natsu's Dragon Force empowered roar.
But Wendy had stopped singing. Instead, she held a small, white orb in her hands that seemed to hum with ancient magic. In that moment, Wendy turned, her eyes filled with courage and moving with purpose. She pushed her hands out towards the other pink haired Dragon Slayer. "Natsu!"
She threw last remnants of Nirvana's core right to Natsu that phased right into him and gave him a tremendous boost of magic. Natsu felt reinvigorated and unleashed every ounce of his magic and he overpowered the attack of the two leaders of Oracion Seis.
Brain and Zero, even in their united form could only scream as the dragon flames consumed him for the last time with a massive explosion.
"D-Did we win?!" Wendy asked as she looked at the result of the explosion while Kain dove in after Natsu.
As the dust settled, Brain lay there… unmoving… and no visible sign of getting back up.
"HA!" Natsu managed to scream out. "I told you he was easy to beat!"
Inside his helmet, Kain twitched. "Uh hey, Natsu, should I warn you I was running completely on adrenaline and pure will especially after that beat down I had to withstand from Brain? … Yeah, everything's going blac..." In a flash of red, Kain reverted back to normal and fell from the height he and Natsu were.
Natsu yelled until he felt something stop the momentum of his fall, it took him only a second to realize it was The Exemplar Guardian, beaten, slightly singed, and dented, but able to pick up both him and the falling Kain.
With Brain down, the seals surrounding everyone else in the Alliance finally fell. Everyone seemed to come back into their senses…
And then…
There was a deafening crack that was heard all through out the floating Isle.
Hibiki, from the Christina, sent out an urgent link. "Everyone, scans are showing that Nirvana has lost all ounce of magic, this entire Isle is about to fall back down! Everyone get on board!"
That was everyone's cue to pick up every last member of the Oracion Seis, and members of the Alliance and high tail it out of Nirvana as it crashed back down into the WorthWood sea, all of it's ancient ruins smashing like glass into the large forest.
But with their escape, it marked the end of a long, and arduous battle.
The Oracion Seis had finally been defeated.
{Author Notes}
Well then—this chapter was so hard to write!
Writer's block (Again, I knew what was planned, I just couldn't find a proper way to write it or I couldn't get into writing it.) is such an annoyance!
Anyway, I'll keep the notes for this chapter short, because there's a lot I wanna talk about in the next chapter which is the Epilogue of The Nirvana Arc! (IT FEELS GOOD TO BE (almost) DONE WITH THIS ARC! WHY WAS IT SO HARD TO TRY AND GIVE VILLAINS THIER DUE!?)
Thanks for reading this story. I hope you all have a wonderful day.