Lisanna had spent so much time with Edolas Fairy Tail and their many espionage-based missions that she forgot how destructive Earthland Fairy Tail was. The large explosions around the police HQ and the sky above them reminded her of this fact.
This was not a good time to be nostalgic.
"What are those two doing!?" Jet shouted as he looked out a window. "Those Dreadnaught ships don't go down even if you knock down their cockpit, but still! The last thing we need is a ship falling on a city!"
While she agreed, this was not the time. "Jet, come on!" Lisanna cried out while she used her tail to ensnare and throw an Eisenwald officer out of the window. "We need to find that jammer!"
Back in the air, Arcadios put a hand on Princess Hisui's shoulder. "Your Majesty that was dangerous! You might have hit the core!"
The armored princess shrugged off the man's arm. "Touch me again, Arcadios, and I'll order your hand chopped off! You question me when our enemies were right there!?"
(They could have dodged the attack.) Arcadios thought to himself. (Yet the man choose to clash with the cannon to prevent the beam from hitting our crewmembers behind them. Princess, the path you're going down is a ruinous one.) However, his mind trailed back to that memory. (Wait, did that concentrated energy come from his mouth?)
As the smoke cleared, the two armored warriors were surprised to see a golden dome. They watched the dome fade, and soon the two Fairy Tail members were seen relatively unharmed but dusty.
"Lady, you need anger management classes!" The man in red, wyvern-style armor cried out.
"Brat, not now! Just tell me if you're finished!" Arcadios was confused by the words. However, his eyes widened when he spotted the boy in red armor remove a device from the USB port!
Laxus spotted the armored man activate his rocket boots and rushed to tackle Kain. The 4th guild master concluded that what the Brat was doing was more important than he realized, and he needed to be protected. Luckily, Laxus had his stamina back. With the speed of lightning, he intercepted Arcadios by catching his hands into a lock. However, Laxus was surprised by the strength of the man... or was it his armor? Even though he stopped moving, he was still mid-air. Laxus felt a shift in his footing before he was lifted off the ground and tackled through a metal wall.
Kain ducked the tackle but took the USB device. "Of all times to reconnect with digital technology, and I'm using it to hack the government!" When the lawyer starts whining like a little bitch, it's always a sign that things are getting worse. This proved true as he noticed the Iron Girl rushing right for him with rocket boots. The lawyer had more wisdom to avoid the tackle and prevent a fight with downed and unconscious men. His cape turned to wings, and he flew out the very hole the crazed girl made. However, as he tried to fly down, Kain ended up avoiding a laser blast that was smaller but quicker. The iron girl shot more laser beams at him and forced Kain to fly upward. Kain did not like the idea of his opponent blasting wildly at him if he went towards the others. So instead, Kain decided to fight this person.
The armored wyvern rider landed atop the giant plane with a slide as he looked up. Normally, he hated fighting. He still believed that was more of Natsu's thing. However, the girl after him was sloppy compared to all the powerful enemies from before. Kain recalled the basics he learned with Erza: first, get into a stance that allowed him to move freely.
His opponent started to fire laser blasts. Kain was able to dodge every blast coming his way, but he also positioned himself closer towards his incoming opponent. Kain summoned a broadsword and held it behind his body. As his opponent came in, the Wyvern Rider sidestepped and slashed the soles of the rocket boots with his enhanced speed. What ended happening was Hisui's boots ended up malfunctioning, and she crashed into the plane like a skipping stone, only more painful looking.
Kain couldn't help but smile inside his armor. (Whoa!? I did that?! I had a cool anime moment! Finally! Months of suffering has borne fruit! Erza, if only you could see me now!)
"You vile fiend!" Kain turned and saw the infamous Erza Knightwalker glaring at him and pointing a horribly familiar sword at him. "You will pay for your life for hurting the Princess!"
(That's not the Erza I wanted dammit!) Kain's knee-jerk reaction passed before he replayed that last word. (Did she say, "princess"?) Unfortunately for him, Erza's sword suddenly changed form. When it did, Kain felt pain as his mind registered that he just got hit by a super-speed flying kick.
Kain shook off his surprise. His enhanced senses heard Knightwalker incoming fast, so he got back up and parried her attack, forcing them both to clash blades. As they did, Kain noticed the sword had changed shape. (Wait a second! I may not have known Fairy Tail, but as a kid, I watched some Rave Master episodes! I forgot Mishama created Rave Master first! That must be the fast blade thing! What was it called again? Did it start with an S?)
"That armor," Erza Knightwalker's voice caught Kain's attention. It was uncanny to hear his strict friend's voice in a way that it was pointed at him like an enemy. Kain always felt fear and pity for whoever was on the receiving end of Erza's weapons. The lawyer just never expected to be one of those poor souls. "What new technology has Redray devised?!" She exclaimed before pushing him away and following it up with an assault.
Unlike with the Princess, Erza was no slouch in fighting. Her form was immaculate even in Edolas. Kain noticed he was losing ground against her within a few blows. His only defense was that all their practice time made him familiar with some of her most basic forms and styles! Even though he knew they were coming, he was having a hard time matching Erza at her best!
Erza Knightwalker weaved a side-kick that sent the armored lawyer took directly at the torso. Kain rolled with the kick but felt his chest heaving from the blow. If he wasn't wearing super armor, her side-kick with those heels would have pierced his heart!
(Great, from being overpowered, now I'm being out-skilled.) The displaced young man whined in his head.
"Odd, the way you're moving," Erza of Edolas waved her blade and started walking towards Kain. "It almost feels like you recognize my moves. Who are you?"
Before Kain could even react to that question, the two heard a shout.
"You will pay for that, fly!" To the rider's annoyance, the Princess got back up from her hard fall.
(Snap! Why is it 2 versus 1 now!? Laxus, where the hell are you!?)
The young man found an answer when he saw thunder explode from the right side of the giant flying machine.
Lisanna looked at her device as she and Jet entered a room with no light.
"Are you sure it's here?" Jet did not like how dark it was.
"The signal is getting stronger. It has to be here." Lisanna spoke up.
"That is not the only object here." A new voice came from the darkness. After that, the lights didn't just shine. They blinded the two as industrial-sized UV lights activated towards the two. Edolas Jet heard the sound of something coming at them at alarming speeds. He stepped forward and unleashed a kick at what he later felt was another speed-powered kick.
"Even blinded, you can still fight? You're as every bit as monstrous as your reputation, Jet "The Sonic"."
Jet recognized that voice. It also explained why the leg he was clashing against at the moment felt lean but muscular. "And you must be Erigor Stark, The Scythe of Justice! I admit, when the Commander told me what kind of Lacrima Gear you had, I've always wanted to test my gear against yours."
The time for words was over after that exchange. The two blurs clashed around the room.
In the meantime, Lisanna may have temporarily lost her sight, but her hearing still worked fine. She heard several Eisenwald men rushing for her. In a flash of light, Lisanna's form changed to that of a large creature that looked to be a cross between a green kangaroo with the arms of a monkey. With her heightened senses, she heard the incoming Eisenwald policemen. Her animal form allowed her to keep fighting. Soon, she found out that many were jumping on her to subdue her. Instead, she turned into a small, mouse-like creature with round ears. In Earthland and Edolas, they were called Rabats; creatures without eyes but relied on echolocation to scurry around the area. She slipped through the pile of policemen and headed towards the machine while her ears caught both Erigor and Jet fighting hard around the room. Despite the fighting, Lisanna worked her way towards what she heard was the machine that jammed Fairy Tail's target systems. When she did, she started scurrying behind the chassis of the machine. Once there, she shift-shaped into another mouse-like creature to restore her eyesight. However, she noticed the data stream in front of her.
She had to admit; it took a long time for Lisanna to get used to the technology of Edolas, but she was taught enough to read the basics. The data stream playing out on one screen clued her that this was a dummy proxy that was bouncing the real signal from an unknown location. She started to panic at the thought they were doing all of this for nothing, especially when she found out that another screen showed an SOS beacon that other Edolas Army forces were responding to. That meant reinforcements of the Edolas Kingdom were inbound soon while they were already outnumbered! Luckily, Lisanna's teachers in this new world were crafty. She couldn't stop the signal, but she could momentarily block the signal for a few minutes. Normally, a few minutes wouldn't be too much of a problem since the strike team was composed of those capable of reaching super speeds. They could activate it and race out in time to Shatter, or teleport, out of the dome. But the problem was that everyone was currently fighting against some of the Kingdom's best soldiers in the area. Despite what she believed in, she couldn't see everyone escaping without revealing the base and luring in an army of soldiers.
Even as a mouse-like creature, Lisanna had a specially crafted ear-piece from Edolas Fairy Tail. This special device worked as a walkie-talkie and/or radio. Llisanna's specifically could change shape to whatever being that had an ear if it could.
Meanwhile, back underground, Edolas Levy spotted one of her devices flashing with blue light. She pressed a button and asked, "Lisanna?"
"The Jammer isn't here! But I can block the signal for a minute at most. When I give the signal, teleport out of here!"
"Wait, what about?" Levy was interrupted.
"We knew the risks of taking this mission," Lisanna's voice was solemn while Levy of Edolas had a sinking feeling in her stomach rising. "Tell Lucy that I chose to make this call..."
The potty-mouth girl was usually silent after hearing that. After a few seconds of silence, she gritted her teeth, gripped her fist, and shouted, "Everyone, get ready! I'm about to activate the Teleport Lacrima!" Le' Fluer shouted to Fairy Tail.
Lisanna gave a sad smile before she started to press on the keyboard.
"Hey, wait a second!" An Eisenwald officer managed to scream. "She's not here!?"
"Was it invisibility?" "Teleportation?" "Who cares what ability she has? Find her while the Captain is fighting!"
"Hey, look over there!"
Lisanna heard the voice pointed over to her. She saw the screen changed and quickly jumped to the enter button.
Over several things happened at that moment. One of the most notable things was the giant dome around the city shattering as something pierced through. However, as it did, there was a deafening boom that caused many to shield their ears. The next thing that happened at that moment was the fact several other massive flying ships appeared overhead of the first Dreadnaught ship.
Laxus and Kain, who were originally back-to-back against their opponents, looked up to the sky after seeing it shatter. And they noticed the influx of reinforcements that arrived overhead.
"Please tell me they didn't just leave us." Kain quietly whimpered.
"I take it the Strauss sibling could only activate it for a few seconds. So she chose them over us. Damn. Brat, think of a way to escape."
At that moment, Kain swore his head was still ringing from Erza Knightwalker's kick. "I'm sorry. What? You think I can just make those at will!?" He wanted to. He really wanted to have an idea. It was a shame that inspiration ran away in fear at the appearance of the reinforcements, something Kain wished they could do.
"Attention, Terrorists!" A voice-amplifying device exclaimed that stopped the fighting. "Surrender or be incinerated! Oooh, and trust us: we're hoping you don't surrender."
Laxus clicked his tongue. "Brat. Plan. Now."
"Raise my paycheck, then I'll think about it." Kain was feeling particularly bitter at that moment.
"Surrender?!" The two, and other former combatants looked towards the armored girl. "No! They must be made an example of those that dare defy the Edolas Kingdom!"
"Hey, Iron Girl," Laxus's eyes widened as he looked to Kain. "Can you stop with the screaming? Are you always this angry and unpleasant for a princess?!"
Kain's eyes widened as he realized what he had done with his guard down. He also realized that said Princess with magical armor was now trembling.
"That's it!" She roared with anger before pointing to the two of them. "Fire! Fire now!"
"Wait, Princess!" Both the other armored knight and Erza Knightawlker both looked horrified. Their expression turned worse when some of the other flying Dreadnaught ships started to rain laser fire down on the two Earthland Fairy Tail members. They both had levels of super speed, but the problem was that they were standing atop another Dreadnaught ship. Whatever the two avoided, the ship that they were on top of took the hits.
Princess Hisui personally rushed into the hail of lasers and tackled Kain among the chaos. With speed that no one expected, the two crashed into a nearby skyscraper.
"Brat!" Laxus slid before he looked to his right to avoid Erza Knightwalker's new blade.
"You. Why do you remind me of Redray?" The Edolas Counterpart asked while raising her blade.
Laxus gritted his teeth before the ship beneath them started to shake. He was facing against a different but still skilled Erza, a mysterious knight in armor as weird as their lawyer's, and fighting on a soon to be crashing ship that was pelted with continuous laser fire.
(This is what I get for sticking my neck for others. I kinda miss being a strength-obsessed jerk.) Laxus complained before he started to fight off both warriors at the same time.
Down below, Natsu avoided several whips and get close enough to land a heavy punch right into Rayule of Edolas. The blow sent the man through several walls, even through a strange-looking machine and other Eisenwald members. Natsu sniffed the air and spotted a small creature scurrying through the rubble. He saw an Eisenwald policeman rush for it. However, Natsu acted fast and kicked him into his other police officers. The Fire dragonslayer picked up the creature.
"Natsu, we gotta escape if we can!" Lisanna squeaked.
Before he could say something in response, his heightened senses picked up something coming in their direction despite the firefight outside. He smiled. "Don't worry! We'll get out of here!" However, he then heard two more incoming objects. He didn't recognize these, but he knew they were different from the flying machines above them.
Meanwhile, Laxus spotted that Edolas Erza had her blade change form to stop his lightning attacks. However, he noted that it had to take one form for defense and one for offense. In the meantime, the armored man fought with constructs of plasma that his armor generated. A flail and a shield was an interesting combo, especially since said weapons could change form on the fly, similar to the Omni Tool both Erza Scarlet and Kain used. Laxus avoided a strike by Erza Knightwalker by sidestepping her and pushing her towards the explosion from a stray laser. Her friend flew in and created a shield that covered the two from the discharge.
As soon as that happened, the random firing stopped. Laxus assumed they finally told the others to stop. Then, out of the smoke, the armored man came rushing in with his shield raised. Laxus started to move, but something wasn't right. (Where's Edolas Erza?)
The armored man raised his other palm and shot a burst of laser that Laxus avoided by tilting his head. At that moment, his senses felt something behind him.
(They used the cover to plan a counter-attack!?) Laxus tried to move, but even with his speed, Erza Knightwalker was able to stab into the Thunder Dragon's left bicep. Laxus screamed before backing off and holding his wound. He let go of his left hand and fired an impressive thunderbolt at Knightwalker as she turned. However, Arcadios swooped in and intercepted Laxus' attack by creating an energy shield. (Great, the power of teamwork.) The 4th guild master looked up, and then he saw incoming ships, which meant reinforcements. (That's annoying. Dammit, where's that brat!?)
Before Laxus could continue, he heard a familiar sound.
Inside one of the flying machines, a soldier cried out. "What the hell was that!?" To their right, a red blur flew through one of the ships. It then exploded causing the crew to abandon the ship and jump off with Parachutes.
Out of the smoke, a red blur shot upward. It unfurled its wings with a mighty stretch and let loose a roar that made even flying metal quiver.
Fairy Tail's Wyvern made itself known.
"A wyvern?!" Acradios snapped out of his stupor and placed a finger near his head. "All ships, open fire on the creature!"
The laser fire started once more. However, despite being so large, Ignis weaved through the laser fire like water through cracked walls. He dove straight into a flying dreadnaught, and everyone else could see explosions coming from within the flying machine.
Laxus took this distraction to escape Erza and The Iron Knight. Even without his dragon magic, the ability to move at the speed of electricity was a boon no matter the situation. In a flash, he struck down and systematically took down any ground force Eisenwald members before finding Natsu, Droy, and Lisanna.
"We need to leave. Our ride is here." Laxus told them before he raised his fist and unleashed chain lightning on a nearby group of charging Eisenwald members.
"Wait, you mean that Wyvern was with you!?" Edolas Droy cried out in shock before he swung his bat. It shot an energy beam nearby a Policeman getting up. Soon, a plant sprouted out and punched the policeman back into unconsciousness. "How the heck did ya tame a wyvern!?"
"Tame? Ignis is a friend!" Natsu declared to Droy.
"Wait," Lisanna's voice came from her small form. "You guys have a wyvern? And you named him Ignis?" She looked over to Natsu with that second sentence.
"No, Kain did." That made the Dragon Slayer's eyes widen. "Wait, where is he!?"
"I'll get Jet," Laxus said. "The rest of you find that brat so we can escape!"
"Right!" The three said before splitting from Laxus. However, Natsu could still hear something coming their way, and it bothered him.
"What the hell smells like brimstone and burnt rubber?! And what is that weird roaring sound that's coming over here!?"
Droy looked at Natsu in astonishment. "W-What?! Burnt rubber?! Brimstone!? Wait a second, Natsu, how do you not know the smell of your own Fireball!? And since when do you let anyone else drive that thing!?"
Before Natsu could even look confused, his senses warned him to tackle Droy before a laser beam hailed down on them from above.
Natsu and Droy rolled before getting back to battle position. When they looked up, they saw Erza Knightwalker and The Iron Knight atop a building.
"The Fireball and The Jungle Master." The Iron Knight summoned dual energy-blades. "Ah? And it seems the infamous Shift-Shaper of Fairy Tail is among them."
"Dammit, The Hero of Edolas and The Fairy Hunter?" Droy held his club tightly. "This is gonna be a tough fight."
Natsu stared up at Erza Knightwalker. The latter only narrowing her eyes and changing the shape of her sword into that of two. Despite the menacing aura and the overwhelming power, the pink-haired dragon slayer felt something else about the doppelganger. "... She looks sadder than our Erza." He muttered to himself before the two launched themselves at Natsu and Droy.
In the meantime, Kain shook his head as he got up from crashing into a building. He pushed some of the debris off him and spotted the armored maiden on top of him.
"I've always wanted a princess to chase after me. Lucky me." The armored rider found himself pushing her off before taking in the sight around them. Or rather, he looked out the hole the two made and spotted Ignis flying in the air and winning what looked to be a 1 vs 12.
"I sometimes forget how impactful Ignis is in a fight with how he spends almost an entire day sleeping." The Lawyer heard the sound of rocks falling before he summoned a red broadsword and parried the Iron Girl's energy blade with his construct.
"I will kill you!" She roared as she tried to push forward. Kain stepped back and let go of the parry suddenly. The Princess was off-balance, and Kain kicked her foot to sweep her off her feet.
The outcome from their battle before didn't change. But Kain started to feel something was wrong. Then, he spotted the Princess use her rocket boosters and aim her laser palms at him. Kain dodged. But he then noticed that as he dodged them, the lasers were intense enough to blast past the walls and hit another building behind him.
(Wait, what!?) Kain dodged more laser fire from the girl, and the more he realized that she was trying to hit him, regardless of anything around them. (Is she that frenzied right now!?)
"AAAH!?" A scream caused Kain to look back. His eyes widened behind his visor as he saw what looked to be a group of office workers huddling behind a corner as the place started to collapse. What was worse was that some of the Princess' attacks were getting awfully close to them.
"Stop! You could be hitting your own subjects!" Kain pointed over to the group of trapped employees. However, to his surprise, the Princess only got angrier and fired more of her lasers.
Kain mentally knew the longer the fight, the more chances she would endanger everyone in her frenzy.
The Lawyer forced himself to close in on the wild royal, hopefully making her go back to close-combat. Instead, the girl ended up combining her laser palms to make one giant laser. Kain's super-speed allowed him to see her bringing her palms together. He saw what was about to happen, but he realized that behind him were innocent people. Instinct overcame the rider as he brought up the Omni Tool and created a shield at the Iron Girl's empowered laser at point-blank range.
No one paid attention to a skyscraper blowing up with the ensuing chaos in the sky, no one except Natsu and Laxus.
Laxus grunted as he saw this. However, he was distracted as he was forced to dodge a flying kick from Erigor reaching speeds close to breaking the sound barrier. The fourth guild master wondered how incompetent Erigor of Earthland had to be if Edolas Erifor could fight two powerful speedsters like him and Edolas Jet and still look to be in control of the fight?! But they weren't there to win. Eisenwald was regrouping, and all the knocked out members started to regain consciousness and back up their Chief. With effort and a well-timed electrical spell that worked like a flashbang, Laxus and Jet escaped.
In the meanwhile, Natsu and Edolas Droy were having trouble with Erza Knightwalker and the armored knight. She was fighting similar enough that Natsu tried to defend himself from her usual attack patterns, but different enough for her to slip through his defense and land heavy blows and cuts on him.
After a solid right hook into his face, Natsu flipped and slid on the ground. He heard the sound of over a hundred clicking noises and spotted an Eisenwald patrol rush out with armed magical weapons that surrounded him and the others.
It was at that moment that the Eisenwald reinforcements were blown away by a strike of thunder. Laxus entered back to the fray as his landing smoked from his attack. However, instead of turning the tide of battle to their advantage, all their opponents had to do was focus fire.
This is why all that Erza Knightwalker needed to do was to put a hand near her head. "All Dreadnaughts, I need suppressive fire! Sending coordinates!"
Blaster fire rained down on the Fairy Tail team. Everyone started to get out of the way of the hail of attacks. However, Lisanna transformed into that of a bird to avoid the incoming attacks. The laser fire made her separate from Natsu but headed towards Erza Knightwalker with her blade armed and ready to cleave the bird in two.
"Lisanna!?" Natsu cried as he made a mad dash for his friend. He lost her once; he was making sure he wouldn't lose her again!
Luckily for the dragon slayer, he wasn't the only one who felt that way. Something moved at the speed of a blur. Then, many realized that a metal chain had ensnared itself around Knightwalker's blade.
"Ah!?" "Is that!?" Edolas Droy and Edolas Jet screamed out.
Everyone followed the chain where they spotted a woman wearing tight, leather clothes with a helmet atop of what looked to be a sports motorcycle, a very decked out yet sleek motorcycle.
It was then that everyone saw the woman pressing a button on the vehicle. At that moment, a large pulse shot out that hit nearly everything in the area but didn't do much damage.
Erza Knightwalker, and everyone else, instantly noticed the lack of blaster fire coming down on them. In fact, it looked like that all of the ships were unresponsive. Even Arcadios fell to the ground as if he was a puppet whose strings were just cut. At that moment, the Captain of the Royal Guard realized what was going on. "An EMP!? Wait, I know that vehicle and weapon!"
"Sup, sword-bitch." Natsu and Laxus couldn't believe their ears. They recognized the voice, just not the tone and the foul words. "How many times do I gotta tell you? My sister is off-limits!" With one yank, the female biker threw Erza overhead and slammed her into a nearby building.
Lisanna turned back into her human form before she shouted out. "You're here! I'm so glad you arrived! But how did you know I was here?!"
The biker turned to the girl before she removed her helmet. Natsu and Laxus recognized the white-ish hair spilling out of the helmet and the beautiful face with a smug smile.
"I'll tell you later, Lisana. Get on! That EMP won't last long!" It was the Edolas version of Mirajane. To Laxus, it was funny to think she looked exactly like Mirajane before she lost her sister.
At the same time, a specialized vehicle, similar to Edolas Mirajane's, slid to a stop not too far from the others. The door opened, and everyone was shocked to see another Natsu from the driver's seat.
"We've got rubber to burn, folks! Get on, and let's blow this joint!"
"Natsu!?" Edolas Droy and Jet looked over to Earthland Natsu, who was staring in shock. "W-What!? There are two Natsus!?"
"Shut up, and let's go!" Mira barked as she started her engines when Lisana got on. Jet and Droy looked to each other before taking Earthland Natsu and pushing him into the car-like vehicle. Laxus looked up and saw Ignis flying in the sky. The guild master knew that the lawyer was tougher than most people. As long as the wyvern was alright, Kain would be fine.
Two things happened, Erza pushed off the debris and revealed herself. At the same time, Edolas Natsu saw her returning and saw the Iron Knight starting to reboot itself. The EMP was fading, so Edolas Natsu hit the gas. Laxus saw this and dashed into the vehicle just as it started to chase after Mira and Lisanna.
"No!" Before Erza Kngihtwalker could move to capture the escaping terrorists, Edolas Natsu hit a trigger on his steering wheel that made his vehicle jump into nitro. It hit a sound barrier, leaving a trail of fire where its wheels drove over.
"Damn it!" Erza punched a nearby rock as it shattered into pieces. "That was the closest we ever got to capturing Fairy Tail!"
Suddenly, something fell from the sky and crash in front of both her and Arcadios with his armor restored.
Behind the smoke, a voice shouted out. "Okay, that proves it. My binds can subdue a Wyvern!"
"Hey! I helped out too, Rayule! Dang it! I can't believe while we're fighting for our lives, Kageyama is on a honeymoon!" As the smoke died down, both Edolas Rayule and Karacka were standing atop a pinned down Ignis. The Wyvern trashed under the binding around him, but both the strong man and the whip user held on.
"Wait," Arcadios was now back in control of his armor. "Where's the princess!?"
"Don't worry, Mr. Hero!" Rayule saluted. "Our Captain went to find her!
In the meantime, Erigor raced towards the collapsed building. He had spotted a blast coming from the top area, and he recognized the laser blast as one of the Princess's weapons. When he got to the remains of the building, he spotted something gold, big and round. With some work, he and his back up removed the debris to find a large golden orb. It opened up, and while Erigor's men readied their weapons, the Police Chief told them to stand down. They saw a Fairy Tail member in red armor retracting the Omni Tool back to his hand in the form of a bracelet. However, instead of shiny red, he was covered in grime, dust, dents, and dirt. He fell to his knees, and Eisenwald made their move to surround the weakened rider.
"Sir!" One of the men behind the rider called out to Erigor. "We found the princess!"
Erigor looked past the armored warrior and didn't only see the princess, who was now unconscious, but also civilians who were protected in the dome the armored man created.
(He protected all of them? Even though the Princess attacked him with all her weapon's power?) Erigor stood over the weakened warrior, whose breathing was erratic and gasping. (Did he hold up that barrier to prevent everyone from being crushed? That was a fair amount of time ago when the building collapsed, was he holding up until now?)
Erigor kneeled towards the fallen young man. Kain and The Eisenwald Chief looked at each other in the eye before Edolas Erigor stood back up.
"Stun him." And with that, over a dozen tasers and other weapons slammed onto Kain's back. Kain screamed in pain before he fell forward.
Erigor found himself looking at the boy as his men started to restrain the unconscious form. If one knew him well, they would see the faintest of frowns on his face that no normal person would notice. (A Terrorist showed more honor than our future queen. This leaves a bitter taste.)
Lisanna held on to her Edolas sister as they made their way out of Louen. "Mira, why are you here? I thought you had a mission in Northern Edolas?!" She yelled out to the wind.
"I needed to get to the main branch! It's an emergency!" Lisanna noticed the alarm in the woman's tone.
At the same time, Edolas Natsu slammed on the console. "Dammit! They should be out of a lockdown dome! Why aren't they answering!?"
"Natsu?" Jet looked at him and Earthland Natsu that was currently doing his best impression of a ragdoll. "How are there two of you!?"
"No time! I've gotta send the message to the others! They're in danger!" Edolas Natsu kept frantically trying to press something on his screen.
"Whoa, what do you mean danger!? We had to buy time for everyone to escape Louen and The Fairy Hunter. That was a pretty close call." Droy spoke up.
"Lahar's dead!" Edolas Natsu snapped back at the two. Edolas Droy and Edolas Jet seemed horrified at the implication. Laxus, who was doing his best to resist the motion sickness, noted to himself that Edolas Lahar may have been a Fairy Tail member instead of a government official, but he was dead? "He and his team were betrayed! But he was able to send a message to Mira and me before he did! We have a traitor in the main branch, and he's about to spring his trap on the others now!"
"What!?" Edolas Jet and Droy screamed while the dragon slayers, even Natsu Dragneel, paled in shock.
Edolas Fairy Tail expected to be safe in the Lightning Mountain Range. When they arrived, some sighed in relief while a few were upset at leaving some of their close members behind, those people being Edolas Elfman, Edolas Lucy, and Earthland Wendy. However, whatever misgivings they had were silenced when something rammed through the doors and crashed through all the windows. Edolas Special Ops forces surrounded and ambushed Fairy Tail in their base before any of them could even blink.
And there was only one among them that didn't look panicked at all.
"Doranbolt!" Lucy Ashley seethed as she saw past the gun pointed directly at her face. "You were a double agent this whole time!?"
Edolas Doranbolt smiled in a way that made everyone in Fairy Tail want to punch him. "Well, not at first. But what can I say? Edolas offered a sweet deal to turn you guys in."
"How could you that, you utter bastard!?" Edolas Levy was just as angry. "You gave us up to Edolas for money!?"
"I could have gotten more money if our 'great' leader was here. Unfortunately, that lazy bum Lahar found me out of all people. I had to move up my time table just a little."
"You killed Lahar!? You bastard!?" Edolas Gray's blood boiled at the thought of the betrayal. "So that's why we haven't heard from him! Even though he's lazy and laidback, he wouldn't make us worry too much!"
Other Fairy Tail members started to shout. Earthland Wendy was starting to get scared before an older yet familiar-looking woman stood in front of her as if to protect her. "It's alright, kid, we're going to be fine."
Wendy gasped as she noticed the beautiful and mature woman in front of her looked exactly like her! Was she Edolas Wendy?
It was at that moment that a single gunshot silenced the rowdy guild. Everyone turned back to a rather angry-looking Doranbolt. "Shut up, all of you!" However, his eyes turned towards the little girl in the corner.
Doranbolt's eyes widened. "Well, that is a shocker. What are they doing here?"
Doranbolt started to move. When he turned away from Ashley and Le Fleur, the two girls started to move... only to freeze again when blaster fire skinned them. Doranbolt moved past Fairy Tail until he was stopped by Edolas Wendy.
"Mest." The older female spoke with a cold tone that even Earthland Gray would have felt chills from.
"Hey, Nirvana," By their tone, the two referred to each other by their last names. "You should step aside."
"What do you want with the girl?"
Doranbolt gave a small chuckle. "Girl? Do you not see those two?" He motioned to both Carla and Happy.
"I was wondering why Redray was on the move recently. Who knew he was working with Exceeds?"
"Exceeds!?" "What!? The Angels were here all along!?" "What was Master Redray doing with them?!"
Carla could only stare in disbelief. However, the light around them started to get obscured.
Doranbolt scoffed as Fairy Tail grew deathly quiet. "And when I told them about the Exceeds, those guys sent the Arch Hunters to come here as soon as possible."
Earthland Wendy noticed her Edolas version grow pale. Her bravado seemed to be melting, and she sensed a very strong spike in magical power, which should have been impossible as only Laxus had magic naturally in Edolas. "The Arch Hunters!? I thought they were a myth!" Edolas Wendy exclaimed in fear.
"Oh, they aren't a myth." Although Doranbolt was smiling, even he looked a little nervous for something that was supposed to be on his side.
Everyone watched seven-foot beings wearing full, elegant, and religious-looking cloaks descend to the entrance of the front doors. But they all noticed how the two of the figures had six wings behind them.
"Fairy Tail," The voice that came out of the cloak made even the likes of Edolas Levy and Lucy lose all traces of bravery and defiance. "For assisting The Abominable Heretic, you will be charged with cleansing. If in life, you bore nothing but ill will and misfortune; in death shall you sustain the glory of Edolas and the Reet Gaetr."
"Abominable... Heretic?" Happy raised his brow in confusion.
"Reet Gaetr?" Carla placed a palm on her head as she felt it throbbing.
The figure turned to the two cats. Like Doranbolt, the cloaked figure made its way towards the cats. However, unlike Doranbolt, no one dared stand in the way of the cloaked being.
"Brothers and sisters," The being began before he bowed to the two. "You have done well to apprehend the apostles of the Abominable Heretic."
"W-Wait, w-what!?" Happy started to stammer.
"Come, your mission is complete. It is time to return to your birthright." The being reached down and picked up Happy and Carla.
"Carla!?" Wendy cried out as she tried to go to her friend. However, she stopped when her Edolas version with Edolas Juvia held her in place against her wishes.
"Wendy!?" Happy cried out before trying to free himself from the grip of the mysterious being.
Everyone heard a mechanical whirring noise. Pla, the last of the Exemplar Guardians, started to move towards the winged-being. It seemed to be reacting to Wendy's distress.
"Your heresy knows no bounds. You think a machine can stand against an Exceed?"
Before anyone could blink, the rusted machine was sent flying through the walls of the guild stopping only when it crashed into a cliff with an indentation that covered most of its torso.
"Pla!?" Wendy cried out in horror at the machine being damaged that badly in one blow.
"You will all pay for your transgressions." The hooded figure turned away with both Happy and a demoralized Carla in tow. "Humans, do to the traitors as you wish."
In a blink of an eye, the winged-figure disappeared, leaving a discouraged Fairy Tail to their grim fate.
As the sun set, the remains of Fairy Tail established camp. It didn't take long for Natsu—after he recovered from his motion sickness—to realize they abandoned Kain. He was ready to go hunt down his best friend if not for Laxus 'giving him a light chop on the head' to calm him down. Laxus was also treated to the sight of Edolas Natsu breaking down and crying after leaving his car. Thankfully, Lisanna clued him in that Edolas Natsu is reverse in the way when vehicles are involved.
"So," Edolas Jet pointed to Laxus after some explanations. "You two are from the same world as Lisanna here?"
Laxus only nodded once.
"That explains the two Natsus." Edolas Droy looked to one that was tied up and struggling to move, while the other was curled up in fetal position and crying how the others were doomed.
However, Droy realized something. "Hold on, what about you?" He pointed to Laxus. "I sure as heck never saw a version of you here."
Laxus never really thought about a counterpart to himself. However, there was something he wanted to confirm. "Your leader, who is he?"
"Why do you want to learn about Commander Redray?" Edolas Mirajane narrowed her eyes towards the 2nd generation Dragon Slayer.
If that was her reaction, the 4th guild master figured he wouldn't bother. "Then don't answer." Laxus scoffed and looked away.
"You know," Edolas Jet rubbed his chin. "I thought I saw it back in the guild, but during the fight, you were a real leader back there, Laxus. The way you took charge reminded me a lot about the commander."
Laxus stilled.
"I noticed that too. The guy in red armor also acted like your right-hand man." Edolas Droy also seemed to muse out loud. "And you seem interested in the Commander, but it's different when spies and police are after 'em."
The thunder dragon slayer realized that Edolas Jet and Droy weren't just powerhouses, but they were also sharp, whereas Earthland Droy and Jet were not.
"I mean, we've never seen the Commander's face, but still," Droy began.
"This is getting us nowhere." Laxus turned back to the others. "The reason why we came here was because of Anima. We came here to find a way to destroy it. Do you know anything about it?"
"Destroy Anima, huh? Damn Edolas! Torturing dissenters weren't enough, but now they have to attack innocent people and drag others into their bullshit!?" Droy clenched his fist. "Damn them and their Exceed partners!"
"Exceed?" Laxus raised his brow before Lisanna sighed.
"Oh, right! Laxus, you don't know much about the Exceeds, do you?" The youngest Strauss sibling went on. "Happy is an Exceed!"
Laxus was still for a different reason this time. "The cat? You call cats Exceeds here?"
"Must be nice to live in a world without those furry bastards." Edolas Mirajane crossed her arms in a huff. "Alright, listen up, muscle-head. I think even you'll like this story cause it involves the commander." Laxus' right bottom eyelid twitched at the insult and how Mirajane smiled at him when she said it. "Oh? Got your attention now, don't I? The Exceeds are basically 'angels' and are the real head honchos over in Edolas. For many years, many thought those frauds invincible and 'holy', even making a damn religion out of them. What they say is law, and if you go against even the smallest one, you're branded as a heretic." Mirajane was particularly bitter at the heretic part. Laxus noticed all the Edolas natives, Jet, Droy, and Edolas Natsu, all frowned at the mention of the word. "And they'll make your life a living hell with no way to fight back."
Mirajane of Edolas then smiled; she smiled a righteous and vengeful smile. "That was until the day The Commander made himself known. That was the day a 'mortal' like him did what everyone thought was impossible: he killed an Exceed, and he got away with it."
Laxus' eyes widened, his mind trying to process this new information about this Ivan Redray.
However, Edolas Mirajane wasn't finished, "Not just any Exceed! Those furry bastards marked the Commander as the Abominable Heretic cause he didn't kill any normal Exceed; Ivan Redray went down in history to kill the Exceed King, the supposed god of this world!"
Mystogan tapped his foot as he sat in the center of where Magnolia used to be. The silence around him was unsettling, and him waiting here doing nothing got on his nerves more often than not.
"Mystogan?"
The S-Class mage turned and entered a battle stance. His mind wondered why he couldn't detect someone coming up to him. But when he saw who it was, he loosened his stance.
It was a knight in golden armor with a long cape. The armor looked futuristic, sleek, and aerodynamic. The gaps had glowing lights around them that signaled power was being distributed to every corner of the armor.
The armored man looked at Mystogan from the down top. "... You have grown so much since I've last seen you."
Mystogan was speechless by the words. He found himself standing up but bowing lightly. "Commander Ivan, I've failed my mission! I was unable to seal all the Anima portals!"
It was then that Mystogan felt something. Ivan Redray had crossed the gap between them... and gave him a hug that the man had not received in years.
"I have failed you, my prince. You should have never been left alone with such a heavy burden." Redray removed his helmet and tenderly unmasked Mystogan. "I'm glad to see you safe." A man with many scars across his face, but with such gentle eyes and a kind smile said.
The face of Mystogan, which was long hidden from everyone, was revealed. His face was exactly that of Jellal Fernandes. When that face was revealed, the S-Class mage started to tear up before he let loose a cry.
Ivan Redray sighed. "Let it all out, my Prince. We still have so much to do." He looked up to the sky. "I still need help killing a god."
{Author Notes}
Happy Christmas and Merry Holidays! Hope you guys have a good holiday season, this year has been... interesting... to say the least. I hope you guys are staying safe.
Here are a few technical things I wanted to work on: the Exceeds of Edolas in this story are somewhat different. They are the same, but at the same time, I cranked up their Religious factor by a fair amount when I remembered that they were considered angels. Because of this, it allows me to create a new story in Edolas based on the original one. Hopefully, I can have the skill and patience to write this arc out. Peace out guys. Let's hope things will get better next year. (They might not, but hey. Gotta keep on.)