Devil Tail
Chapter 11: Phantom Lord Part 2
1 mile outside Phantom Lord Guild Hall
Things had become very heated in the last day. To start off, Phantom Lord attacked a team within Fairy Tail Guild, which prompted Makarov to declare war on the Guild. The undying battle was intense, Nero probably taking the worst hit, however, his nature as part demon healed that injury rapidly, though the hunter already knew that dozens of questions would be asked. Like how he survived, however that would half to wait. At the moment, Natsu, Nero, and Happy were were walking across the rocky terrain surrounding the guild, the hunter carrying the wizard they captured in Spectral Bringer. The reason the wizard was there, to tell them exactly where Lucy was.
"So what are we gonna do now?" Happy inquired, flying right by Natsu's side.
"Isn't it obvious?" Natsu replied, "We're gonna rescue Lucy."
"But there's something we need to do first," Stated Nero as he glared up at the Phantom Lord wizard in his clutches before roughly dropping him on the ground, "asking this guy what he knows."
Approaching the downed Wizard, Natsu grabbed the man by his shoulders, the man struggled against Natsu's iron grip, but his attempts were futile. The Dragon Slayer was too strong for him to overpower.
"Alright, pal," Salamander said, "where is she? Tell me."
"How should I know?" the mage choked out, "I don't know Lucy."
In response, Natsu ignited the man's body on fire, however Nero looked on uncaring for the burning wizard.
The flames weren't hot enough to kill, but certainly hot enough to cause pain. The Phantom began to cry out as he writhed in agony.
"I don't know her!" he cried out.
"Start talking!" Natsu snarled.
"I already told yah, dude, I don't know nothing!" He replied hysterically, and he had reason, being led against his will by two very angry fighters would do that to you, "Now please put out the fire!"
"If any of you Phantom guys hurt another one of my friends, I swear I'll burn every one of you into a pile of ashes!" Natsu threatened, his fury boiling out of him and into the flames covering the Phantom mage, which in turn caused the temperature to rise.
'Natsu's a little like me; willing to do whatever it takes to protect his family,' Thought Nero, though he would say that he was willing to go to more extreme lengths than Natsu. And something tells him that he would need to go to those lengths to get what they wanted out of this wizard.
The man screamed louder as the fire became hotter and more unbearable, "AHHH! Please, I'm telling yah man, I've never heard of this Lucy chick! If I did I would've told yah by now!"
"Funny you should say that because I was thinking I should've burnt you to a crisp by now," Natsu retorted irately.
"Aye," Happy agreed.
"Not that I don't enjoy a good interrogation, I'm getting a little short on patience," Stated Nero as he approached the wizard, before grabbing the wizard by his collar and hoisted him into the air. The man dangled in his grip.
The mage started sweating in fear as he saw the cold look in the hunter's eyes, "Please, don't hurt me!" He Begged.
"Then tell us what we want to know," Stated Nero, "If you do, I'll let you off the hook."
"I don't know!"
"Bullshit," retorted Nero, "you know something, and I wanna know what that is. Natsu, Happy, look away."
The pink haired mage and blue cat looked at each other and shrugged; nevertheless, they did as Nero requested and turned away. Once he was certain they did, Nero glared harshly at the mage.
"Tell us what we want to know," repeated Nero slamming the mage down onto the ground.
"I keep telling you, I don't know anything!" Cried the man, sitting up, looking up in fear at the demon hunter.
"No," Snarled Nero, his voice changing dramatically, becoming inhumanly distorted, one that rightfully belongs to a monster… no, a demon. His eyes began glowing blood red, as blue energy began coursing across his body while Devil Bringer started to shine through his sleeve and glove, "You know something. If you don't tell me what that is in the next five seconds..."
Nero left the threat open to interpretation, because the real threat came. A figure began to form behind the hunter. It was transparent, humanoid in appearance, though clearly not human. It floated just behind the hunter, larger, it had two horns coming out of its shoulders, the right rising up larger than the left, forming a crescent. Two horns rested on the sides of the head, similar to ram's horns. On its left arm, an organic sheath was attached to its forearm. A handle to a sword rested inside the sheath. While the right, aside from the color and transparency, was a dead on dupilicate of Devil Bringer. Sharp claws tipped the fingers of the specter.
"I'll show you why I'm a demon hunter."
"O, God. W-who… what the hell are you?" rasped the mage in fright.
"Tell me what it is I want to know," growled the hunter, reaching to the mage, the Specter mirroring his movements so that it grabbed the Phantom Lord Wizard by his chest and lifted him up, "now!"
"Okay, okay! Our headquarters are up ahead!" the man said hastily, "If I had to guess, I would say she would be locked up there!"
"You should've said that to begin with!" Natsu yelled, still looking away from the scene.
Satisfied with his response, Nero dropped him and withdrew his power. He didn't go full Devil Trigger, if he did, Natsu, Happy, and the Wizard would've been blasted away. The specter vanished as Nero's eyes lost their red glow, just as Natsu and Happy turned around and were shocked to see the man lying on the ground, shaking in terror.
"What did you do?" asked Natsu.
"Don't worry about it," Stated Nero, without even glancing at the Dragon Slayer, "we got what we needed, let's go."
With that, Nero stepped away, heading for the direction of the Phantom Lord's HQ. As far as he was concerned, they had what they needed to get Lucy back. He didn't care if a wizard saw a portion of his power, he didn't care about the consequences that could follow. What he did care about was they had a way to get Lucy home. But if he looked back over his shoulder, he would've noticed that Natsu and Happy glanced at each other for a moment. Both of them curious as to what Nero did to get the mage to confess.
What did he do?
Phantom Lord HQ
About a mile away from the Guild Hall, and two miles from where Nero, Natsu, and Happy were located, was then Headquarters of the Phantom Lord Guild. The guild was perched on top of a rocky hill, rising far above the hall below, the HQ held a dreary atmosphere. Within the stone walls of the melancholy prison cell, was Lucy.
To prevent her from using magic, or really attempting to escape, her hands bound behind her back. Lucy's brown eyes finally began to flutter open.
As soon as she fully regained consciousness, she instantly sat up with wide eyes and blinked a few times. The Celestial mage was shocked and confused as she tried to figure out where she was and how she got here.
"What the?" she said to herself, trying to remember the events prior, "How did I get here?"
Suddenly, a figure appeared outside the cell, looking in through a small iron-barred window with only the lower half of his face visible.
"So you're finally awake," The man said, "I was getting worried about you, Lucy."
Lucy turned to the door, and asked, "Who are you?"
The metal door opened and revealed a tall, slim man with long, straight black hair that reached his shoulders. His lips were dark colored while his face was long and sharp. His attire consisted of a purple jester-like coat with a high collar, two dark blue prominent wings similar to a bat's on his back, a plain white shirt, and a purple witch-like hat bearing Phantom Lord's symbol.
He looked at Lucy with narrowed dark eyes and a malign smile, "I am Master Jose Porla," he answered, "of the Phantom Lord Guild."
"You're with Phantom?!" Lucy shouted angrily.
The blonde mage then recalled what had happened earlier. She remembered getting trapped in a sphere of water, courtesy of Juvia the rain woman, a member of the Element 4, and passing out inside of it.
"I would like to apologize for this dingy cell," Jose said, stepping into the cell, "being tied up must be degrading. But I'm afraid I had no choice my dear. That is how you treat a prisoner after all."
"You're the jerks who attacked my friend Levy and her team!" Lucy yelled, ignoring Jose's prattle, "You better let me go. My friends are gonna come looking for me."
Jose turned away, rubbing his chin in fake thought, "Depending on your willingness to cooperate, I'm fully prepared to treat you as a distinguished guest rather than a lowly prisoner."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Lucy. All of a sudden, when she noticed a pink centipede crawling on her leg, she shrieked in a girlish manner, "Awww! YUCK! A bug crawled on me!"
Jose smiled smugly, "See? You don't wanna stay in here, do you? I have a fully decorated suite ready for you, if you promise to behave."
"Why does your Guild keep attacking us?" Lucy demanded, not listening to what Jose's offer.
"Who is 'us'? Oh! I'm sorry are you talking about Fairy Tail?" Jose inquired in a mocking tone. He smiled sinisterly, showing off his pearly white teeth, "It was a means to an end, and that's all."
Lucy continued to stare at Jose determinedly, "What?"
"You see, we were working on our main objective of acquiring a certain someone." The Phantom master explained, "They happened to be a member of Fairy Tail so if we have to destroy the Guild to get a hold of them, so be it."
"Who are you talking about?"
"Well my, my you're such a naïve young lady," Jose remarked, "not at all what I would expect from a debutante."
Lucy lightly gasped while her eyes widened considerably.
"I'm talking about you of course," He continued, "Lady Lucy, the daughter of the wealthy Heartfilia family."
"But..." gasped Lucy, her expression swiftly changing into shock and confusion, but regained itself in calmness as the mage composed herself enough to look at the Phantom Lord guild Master, But this time, her gaze held a different fire as to the one before, "how did you find out about that?"
"You know, I'm surprised you never told your fellow Guild members the truth," Jose admitted, fully expecting the girl to reveal that bit of information at some point, "And I don't understand why the daughter of a wealthy tycoon would stoop to such dangerous work as wizard-ing for such a low-class Guild. Do you?"
"I've…been kidnapped?" Supplied Lucy, simplifying the situation she was currently in.
"No my dear, I promise it's not like that," corrected Jose, "We're not looking for ransom money; we're just doing our job. We were hired by your father to bring you home to him."
In response, Lucy gasped in shock as her face paled a bit, "No," the blonde's words quivered as her head hung low. After a moment or two, she found her voice, and said to no one in particular, "I don't understand. Why would he want me back?"
"Why do you seem so confused? Any father would go looking for the daughter who ran away from home," Jose replied, even though the question was never for him.
The blonde mage's eyes were closed as she clenched her teeth together, trying to keep herself from crying, "No…not him. Honestly I'm shocked he even noticed I was gone," She then snapped her head back up to Jose, her eyes burning with fury, "I'm not ever going back to that house! I don't want anything to do with him!"
"Oh dear, I should've know you would be problematic," The master of Phantom Lord sighed, however, his creepy smile never wavering.
"Well then, you might as well let me go," Lucy stated.
"I'm sorry but I can't do that," He retorted, causing Lucy to look at him in worry.
"Please, I need to go to the bathroom." She said, a sweat drop falling from her brows. However, the Master wasn't buying it as he gave her an unconvinced look.
"Give me a break. You don't think I would fall for the oldest trick in the book, do you?" Jose muttered.
Lucy knew he wouldn't believe her, and if she wanted to get out of here, she'd have to make it seem real. So, the Celestial Mage began to squirm around, making it seem like she really did need to go, "No, please." She begged, "I'm dying here."
Jose grinned, "Fine then," He then brought forth a bucket out of thin air and laid it in front of her, "Go ahead."
"A bucket!" the Celestial wizard cried incredulously, having not expected him to do that.
Jose chuckled in amusement, knowing the old trick, "I'm ready for any trick you may throw my way."
Lucy sighed, and then stood up and wiggled behind the bucket, Guess her plan would need a little modification, "Guess it'll have to do," She conceded.
"You're gonna do it!?" Jose shouted, dumbfounded. His left eye began to twitch as he ground his teeth together in disgust, "Well…I have never met such a vulgar young lady!" He turned away, "I'll turn away because I'm a gentleman."
Lucy smirked in victory. She then kicked Jose right between the legs with as much force as she could unleash. As a result, Jose cried out in pain and collapsed to the floor, his legs clenched together as he writhed in agony. While this might have not been her original plan, it was good enough.
"You know," Lucy retorted, looking down at the writheding master, "there's a reason old tricks are still around, because they work!"
Lucy then got up, glanced back and winked at the downed wizard, "Bye! Take care, 'kay?"
Lucy bolted for the nearest exit, which happened to be a large opening that led outside. However, she quickly stopped when she saw the opening was actually a window that appeared to be over ten stories off the ground. She let out a collective gasp of fear, the cool wind blowing against her body.
Jose grunted as he steadily stood back up, though he was still clutching his groin area, "Oops! I forgot to mention…this cell is several stories high," With pained effort, Jose slowly walked toward her, though, still holding his crotch, "I must admit, you got a number on me, young lady."
Lucy glanced down at the ground far below. She shut her eyes as painful memories of her father returned to her.
"But you're not gonna get away with it," Jose continued, an uncanny smile reappearing on his black lips, "You will be punished. I'll show you just how terrifying Phantom Lord can be."
Lucy's face turned into rock-hard determination. With a deep inhale, Lucy did the unthinkable. She let herself fall backwards and fall over the edge. Jose, as a result, gasped from absolute shock.
As the blonde mage plummeted to her doom, she thought, 'I heard him in the distance. I know he's here.'
"NATSU!" Lucy screamed, letting go of all the air in her lungs.
Suddenly, Natsu came running across the rocky terrain at full speed, his face set in determination.
"LUCY!"
With a huge amount of strength, Natsu crouched low and leaped into the air. Miraculously, Natsu caught the blonde haired mage in his arms. The momentum from his jump sent him and Lucy crashing into an old brick wall; however, Natsu made sure to take the full impact.
Chasing behind them were Nero and Happy, the cat flying ahead of the Demon Hunter.
"Woah!" Gasped Happy in surprise, "he caught her."
"Yeah, for a second, thought we'd have a problem," Commented Nero, as he approached the two wizards.
Getting to the scene, the demon decided to look away at the awkward sight of Lucy's large breasts being pressed right into Natsu's face. A little sweat drop formed on the hunter's brow as he looked away.
"Made it just in time," stated Natsu, though his words were slightly muffled, due to Lucy's assets in his face.
"Yeah," Agreed Lucy, though her voice was weak, "thank you. I knew you'd save me."
After untangling themselves from each other, Natsu helped Lucy to her feet and got the rope untied from her wrists.
"There you go," Said Natsu as he discarded the rope, but his expression switched to concern for his friend, "Are you okay?" He asked; feeling very concerned for his partner.
Lucy nodded, but with a downcast expression on her face, "I think so."
"Hey?" Asked Nero placing a hand on her shoulder, giving the girl a concerned look, "you sure you're fine?"
He had taken a good look at Lucy, and no, not in that way, but he noticed that something was off about her. She seemed so desolate, and he doubted it was because she had fallen from such a height. Something had happened while she was in Phantom's clutches.
"Yeah," repeated Lucy, but her expression never changed.
"That's good news," Happy replied, "Okay, we better head back to the Guild."
"What? That's their headquarters! Let's get 'em!" Natsu protested.
"We can't!" the blue cat disputed. "Erza told us to retreat!"
"Because she's a wimp! I'll face those guys myself if I have to."
"No, we're going back," Stated Nero, leveling a glare at Natsu, "we both saw what they did to Makarov."
"Exactly! That's why I wanna get revenge!" The Dragon Slayer declared.
"But you're not strong enough to fight them all on your own!" Happy argued.
"Who said I was going alone? We have Nero here to help out," Natsu pointed out, however, the demon hunter immediately shot down his idea.
"No you don't, Natsu," disputed Nero, "We got Lucy out, now we're heading back. I might be tempted to take the fight to them right now, but on my terms."
"Oh come on!" the fire mage protested.
"I'm sorry," Lucy whimpered weakly, clutching the end of her blue skirt, "I'm so sorry."
Nero, Natsu, and Happy quickly ceased their quarreling and turned to Lucy in confusion. Their eyes widened a bit when they noticed that she was beginning to cry.
"All of this…is my fault. But I don't wanna leave. I wanna stay with you guys," She choked out through the tears, turning to face them.
The trio looked at her in worry, "What's wrong? You're crying. Why are you upset?" Natsu asked.
"You can tell us," Happy said softly.
Lucy didn't respond as she continued to cry.
"You're one of us. You don't have to leave," Natsu added.
"I'd hate to be 'that guy' but we need to go," interjected Nero, "Pretty sure we might be overstaying our welcome."
Natsu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah okay, I guess we should," He conceded. He turned to her, "Okay Lucy, time to get up."
"Don't be so rough with her. Remember, girls are delicate," Happy chided.
"Okay, I'll carry you on my back. Is that cool?" Natsu asked the blonde girl.
Lucy only cried in response.
"Ahh," Happy moaned, "look what you did. You made the poor girl cry again."
"I was trying to help," Natsu defended as he placed Lucy on his back, crossing her legs over his waist while she wrapped her arms around his neck, her teary face buried into Natsu's shoulder.
"By the looks of things, she would've been crying anyway, Happy," commented Nero dryly, seeing that the Celestial Wizard would've started the waterworks if Natsu had said anything or if he didn't.
But that didn't really matter as the Demon Hunter, Dragon Slayer, and flying cat sauntered down the trail they'd come from, leaving the Phantom Lord headquarters in their wake. However, Nero had a feeling in his gut that this was just the beginning.
Back in prison cell
Within the confines of the gloomy cell that had once housed Lucy, Master Jose had fallen to his knees, holding his crotch in agony. Lucy packed a helluva kick. He began to hiss in anger until suddenly his form was shrouded by menacing purplish-black magic energy.
"SHE MADE ME ANGRY! HER FATE IS SEALED!" Jose bellowed furiously, his dark magic erupting around him. One way or another, he was going to have his revenge, the job be damned now.
Later
Fairy Tail Guild Hall
Back at the guild hall, Fairy Tail wizards and mages were still recovering from various injuries they had received during the battle with Phantom Lord. The overall morale of the guild was at an all-time low, and with reason: Makarov had been defeated and was very sick; and, they'd had to retreat from their fight with Phantom.
A few mages, which included Macao and Wakaba, had crowded at a table in hopes of hacking up a plan for a counterattack. Meanwhile, Nero, Natsu, Happy, Gray, Elfman, and Lucy were by a wall. The celestial wizard was sitting on a barrel in dismay. The whole group had looks of thought plastered on their faces.
When Nero, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy made it back after rescuing the Celestial Wizard, she revealed to them why she was captured by Phantom Lord and what made her so important to them. To their surprise, Lucy was actually once part of an extremely wealthy family; but her father, who was her only living parent, her mother died a while back. While he was her only parent, her father cared very little for her, so much so that Lucy actually ran away because of his lack of care. But now, he had hired Phantom Lord to bring her back for reasons unknown.
Nero, who had his arms crossed and was currently leaning against the wall just beside the aforementioned Mage, glanced at Lucy, a look of concern, and understanding. He knew what it was like to have parents not care for you, at least his biological. He wouldn't claim to know how his mother felt as he never met her, but his father... The Hunter shook his head as he wouldn't let himself get dragged into that, what was important was Lucy, and she had been blaming herself for everything that had happened.
"Don't worry, Lucy," promised Nero, "Makarov's gonna be fine and we'll get payback for him."
That did little to help Lucy as her head sunk lower. "I know." She mumbled. "I'm not worried about that." She paused, appearing to be on the verge of crying again. "It's just…all my fault."
"Being targeted by powerful people is just one of the downsides of being rich," Elfman stated. He then smirked proudly, "At least you're protected by a real man like me."
Gray glowered back at him, "Hey! Would you give it a rest already!?"
"I gotta say I was pretty shocked when I heard the news," Happy confessed, standing in front of her, "Why'd you hide the truth from us, Lucy?"
"I wasn't trying to hide anything," She replied, "I mean, there's no way to bring up that I'm a runaway in casual conversation. I've been gone for nearly a year and my father hasn't cared. Now, all of a sudden, he wants to force me to come home? He's done all those horrible things just to bring me back. I hate his guts!"
Nero, as well as the other members of the group looked at Lucy with sympathy. The hunter could also relate to an extent with her. A father's job is to care for his children, and so far, all Lucys' has done is make mistake after mistake. However, after listening to Lucy's tragic story, Nero began to wonder if all the members of Fairy Tail have a hard past before joining the guild. Despite being in the guild for almost two weeks, he was getting the notion that that was true.
"Still, if I hadn't run away in the first place none of this would have ever happened," Lucy said dejectedly.
"Come on, don't be ridiculous," Elfman argued, "Your dad's the one to blame."
"Idiot!" Gray yelled.
"Uh…," the brute stuttered as he quickly corrected himself, "I mean that it's Phantom's fault!"
"No," Lucy said, "I'm the one who brought trouble to the Guild because of my own selfish choices. I'm so very sorry. I'm just gonna go back home and hopefully, this will all be over."
"Gotta disagree with you on that, Lucy," countered Nero, but used a soft tone, "based on what I've seen from Phantom Lord, and my own experiences, this isn't about the money anymore I think."
"Nero's right, Luce," agreed Natsu, giving a big wide smile, "Besides, I can't see yah playing the part of a pretty princess lying around in your mansion."
Lucy's response was to the Dragon Slayer was to only stare at him. Her breathing getting caught in her throat.
"Laughing with us in this filthy Guild Hall, going on adventures even though you freak out all the time," Natsu proclaimed, still holding his wide grin, even as the Celestial Mage turned away from him, thinking about what he said, "that's who you really are. You said you wanted to stay with us. Why would you ever go back to the place you ran away from? C'mon, who are you trying to kid? You're Lucy of Fairy Tail. No more running 'cause you belong here with us."
After Natsu had finished his speech, Nero gave a look between Lucy and the Dragon Slayer, giving the latter a nod. Lucy's lower lip pouted out as a few stray tears trailed down her face, and there wasn't even a debate, she was gonna cry again. Nero knew what Natsu did, she had to hear it, and he commended the Dragon Slayer on what he did. But, Gray, was rubbing the back of his head, looking a bit sheepish, as for Elfman, he shivered in fear.
"Ah c'mon, don't cry," Gray said, "It's just not like you."
"Please!" begged Elfman, "Real men are weak against womanly tears!"
Meanwhile, Cana and Mira were by the bar, trying to get a hold of the Guild's other S-Class wizards. Gildarts was off on a long quest and unavailable, leaving Laxus and Mystogan as their only options to call upon. Cana had a set of magical playing cards set up in front of her, trying to establish a connection with Mystogan; however, her attempts were to no avail.
Eventually, she threw her cards off the table in frustration, "C'mon! I'm not getting any kind of read on where Mystogan is!"
Mirajane, who was sitting at the bar, looked back, "Oh dear, you did your best," She assured gently.
"If Lucy's their real target, then they're bound to attack," Cana said, "And I would bet on it being sooner than later. Right now, we just got too many wounded to put up much of a fight."
Mira turned forward, her eyes closed in sorrow, "Master is seriously wounded and we can't locate Mystogan," She then looked up and started into lacrima ball sitting on a golden four-legged stand, "You're the only one we can turn to. Please help us, Laxus."
Suddenly, the image of a blonde man with spiky hair that was Laxus, grandson of Makarov and one of the most powerful mages in Fairy Tail, appeared in the lacrima. His expression portrayed annoyance.
"We could really use you right now," Mirajane pleaded, "Fairy Tail's in grave danger."
However, both women were shocked to see Laxus laughing loudly, 'Man! Makarov is freaking pathetic!' He then ceased his laughing and sneered, 'I don't see how this is remotely my problem. You're big girls, so deal with it yourselves!'
"So you're not gonna help us!?" Cana shouted incredulously.
'Of course not!' Laxus scoffed as he looked at her condescendingly, 'Why would I? That senile old toad started this. Why do I have to be the one to clean up his mess?'
Mira furrowed her brows angrily, but she kept her emotions under check, "Please Laxus," she pleaded again, "Phantom Lord is trying to kidnap Lucy."
'Who?' questioned Laxus before looking up for a moment in a mock attempt to remember who they referring to, 'Do I even know her? Oh, wait…the new girl? I tell ya what; if you can talk her into being my woman I'll do whatever she wants.'
"You are such a pig!" Cana yelled.
Laxus scowled, he didn't enjoy being called name, 'Are you sure you want to talk that way to a guy you're begging to help yah? Do me a favor, if that geezer manages to pull through this, tell him he's over the hill and he should hand the Guild over to me!' the S-Class mage broke out into another fit of laughter. He was enjoying this far too much.
Suddenly the lacrima shattered into tiny pieces, courtesy of Mirajane. The white-haired woman stood there with her fists clenched and tears racing down her face. Cana, meanwhile, looked at her in shock.
"Mira?" she whispered.
"I don't understand," Mirajane whimpered, "How can someone in Fairy Tail be so heartless and cruel?" She then turned around with determination on her face, "I can't just sit here and watch. I must join the others and fight!"
"Wait!" Cana disputed, "Don't be ridiculous!"
"I'm only useless being here at the Guild Hall," Mira retorted, "I wanna help!"
The card mage laid a supportive hand on her shoulder, "I understand but you'll only get in the way as you are now…even if you were once an S-Class wizard."
Mirajane glanced at Cana with tears streaming down her beautiful face. She knew that Cana was right, which only made her feel worse.
Without warning, the ground began to shake violently. Parts of the roof and wall chipped off of the Guild Hall and fell to the floor.
"Hey, what's going on?" Gray asked.
Nero wasn't familiar with the area, and his first thought was an earthquake, however, his gut said otherwise. Something was coming, and that was confirmed when he saw Alzack come rushing through the main doors into the Guild, a look of fear on his face, "OUTSIDE!"
Without a moment wasted, Nero, and the uninjured mages of Fairy Tail rushed towards the doors, however, they froze in their tracks at what the saw was the source of the shaking. Even Nero would admit, he felt a little concerned.
In Lake Sciliora was the Phantom Lord Headquarters sitting on a big chunk of rock, but sprouting out from the rock were eight giant bronze colored legs! The earth trembled under each step that the giant building on legs took as it approached the shoreline in front of Fairy Tail's Guild Hall.
"Honestly, I shouldn't be surprised anymore," muttered Nero to himself.
"What is that?!" Natsu exclaimed fearfully.
"It's a Guild Hall with ginormous legs!" Happy said.
"Is it Phantom?" Loke stammered.
Nero almost immediately recognized the building as Phantom's Headquarters, the same building that Lucy had jumped out of. Only this time, it was mobile!
Everyone's eyes were bulging out whilst their jaws hung low, their bodies frozen on the spot. Even Erza, who was in her Heart Kreuz armor, was shaking in fear, "I did not anticipate this. I did not think they would go to such extreme lengths to attack us!"
Finally, the Phantom Headquarters took one more giant step before it came to a halt. The building remained motionless for a short moment until a hatchway at the front lowered, allowing a long metal barrel to steadily extend out from the hatch.
Suddenly, dark blue energy became to swirl and coalesce around the end of the cannon's barrel, growing more intense by the second. Nero narrowed his eyes as he clenched Devil Bringer, he knew a weaponwhen he saw one, and that was one of the largest he had ever seen. And he had been in enough fights with demons to know when one was charging up to fire a massive beam right at him. If it was like what Dante described the Savior had, it wouldn't just destroy Fairy Tail, but all of Magnolia with it.
Without a word, Nero began to walk right towards the edge of the cliff, he knew what he had to do. He didn't have the time or really the patience to explain his plan. What he did know is that this might be his only shot. He knew the sword was powerful, but he didn't know how powerful, but it's not like he had much choice.
"Nero!" Erza cried.
"Are you crazy?!" Cana shouted.
"Don't be stupid!" Macao yelled, "You can't stop that thing!"
"I've been called a lot of things," Replied Nero, "reckless, being the most common. But right now, that doesn't matter, what does matter, is that I try."
"Dude you're insane!" Shouted Gray, "you're just one person!"
"But I've got something to get off my chest; a secret," Replied Nero ominously as he reached for his glove, and began to take it off, catching the interest of everyone, "I figured that if kept my secret, I'd be sparring you all some confusion. But right now, to hell with that secret."
Nero's glove fell to the ground as he came to a stop at the edge, the wind causing his coat to flap slightly.
"Remember when we first met, I refused to use my right hand?" Recalled Nero.
"What are you doing!" Shouted Natsu, "get out of the way!"
"Well, I had a reason, because I didn't know how you'd react to the truth," continued Nero as grasped the right cuff of his coat and began to roll it up, "because I'm not just a person."
Upon rolling his sleeve up to what he wanted, Nero let his arm fall, and everyone in Fairy Tail hawk at what they saw: a demonic appendage that was in the place of his right arm, Devil Bringer.
"I'm a demon," Stated Nero, his voice altering dramatically, as energy flowed across his body, his hair wafting in the breeze, "and this demon is done running."
An orb began to collect in the palm of Devil Bringer before it began to extend. It continued to to extend more and more until it flashed and solidified into an object . But not just any object, a sword, a katana to be specific. The Yamato. It was beautiful, even to some wizards who had never held a sword in their lives.
However, at the same time, a figure appeared behind Nero, something that had their jaws dropped further whilst their eyes widened in astonishment and disbelief. The specter that accompanied Nero whenever he was in his Devil Trigger. Now all bets where off.
The wizards outside continued to look up at the specter in awe. A few of them were even shaking in fear. Unexpectedly, Gray fainted and fell backwards.
"Holy moly!" Happy cried, in shock, "Nero can do that?!"
"I-It looks so," Loke stuttered.
"Whoa! Why didn't he ever say he was a Demon?! And why didn't he say he could do that?!" Demanded Cana.
"He-he's so powerful!" Natsu stammered, feeling the energy roll off his friend in waves
Erza said nothing; not that she could, she was incapable of saying anything at the moment. She gazed at the being standing before the Guild. Her body was trembling ever so slightly as she stood frozen in shock.
Nero narrowed his eyes at the eight-legged building standing at least half a mile away. Black lightning rippled across the energy ball collecting at the end of the barrel. Finally, with an earthshaking boom, a powerful bluish-black beam fired out from the cannon.
In response, Nero twirled Yamato around into a reverse grip, the Specter copying his movements perfectly. Poised behind him, the blade began to glow blue, flames danced across the edge, the Specter holding its own, Yamato in a similar fashion. The demon hunter was drawing every single bit of power he could muster. Everything, he needed as much power as he could get.
'Power,' echoed a familiar voice in Nero's head, but went on ignored. He had to focus. Finally enough energy had been focused into Yamato, the blade dancing with energy. Without wasting a moment, Nero swung the sword up, the Specter following suit, a massive wave of demonic power rushed towards the blast of magic.
As a result, the wave cleaved the beam in half, going right down the middle, slowly, but steadily making its way towards the source.
The Fairy Tail wizards watched in awe as Nero's attack, slowly, but surely made its way to the Jupiter cannon. It was like watching a hot knife cut through butter. Suddenly, Phantom's energy beam disappeared, letting Nero's slash barrel right towards the guild, and collided with the barrel of the cannon. Phantom's Headquarters shook from the blast, but the arachnid-like legs underneath kept it stable.
When the smoke and ocean vapors cleared, the cannon was scorched and cracked in various places. Nero huffed and puffed, but was inwardly relieved that he held off the attack. Partially glad that the guild wasn't destroyed, but a little pissed that his attack didn't do sufficient damage to the Jupiter Cannon.
Turning away from the Guild, Nero began to make his way towards Fairy Tail, albeit, his steps shaky and nearly stumbled a few times, the Specter vanished in a flash of energy, but Yamato remained in Nero's grip.
The wizards of Fairy Tail stared at the Demon Hunter with shocked dumbfounded expressions.
"Whoa," Macao gapped, "He actually stopped it."
"No kidding," Cana said.
"So he's actually a demon," Alzack added.
Natsu, Erza, and Gray approached Nero, the latter just regaining consciousness after he had fainted. The trio was still in shock over what they had just witnessed their new teammate do. Who could blame them?
"That...was quite the display," Erza muttered.
"I'll say!" Natsu exclaimed excitedly, "That was awesome!"
"Yeah…" Gray said, and then shouted, "But why didn't you tell us you were a demon?!"
"I had just met you guys and I didn't know how demons were viewed here," answered Nero calmly, "and for the record, I'm part demon, one quarter demon, the rest human."
Suddenly, before anyone else could comment, the voice of Jose echoed out from a PA system at Phantom Headquarters.
"Impressive display of power," Jose praised. If he had been shocked over seeing Yamato, he was hiding it well, "I'll admit I'm impressed. A shame you joined a guild full of weaklings, mister Demon Slayer wizard. What a waste of potential."
Nero only snorted in disdain as well as anger for the way he was talking down to his friends. 'Wonder of Dante would've been pissed if I blew up the whole thing instead,' Thought the hunter.
"But it doesn't matter. Makarov has fallen and even you don't have the power to stop me. Surrender Lucy Heartfilia immediately or I'll have no choice but to kill you all," Jose proclaimed conceitedly.
"Is this guy dense or something?" Muttered Nero to himself. He just overpowered his strongest weapon with a single swing of his sword and he thought they had no chance? Guys got the arrogance to match a demon.
"That's not gonna happen!" Alzack yelled.
"Like any Guild would hand over one of their own to a monster like you!" Bisca added.
"You hear that!?" Macao shouted, "Lucy's staying put!"
The other Fairy Tail mages spectating in the back agreed and began to rally.
"I won't ask again!" Jose said, his voice seething with rage.
Lucy stood still, her head hung low in a crestfallen matter. She started to cry once more. Everything that was happening was her fault, "Maybe I should just go with them? Give myself up," She whimpered.
"We would never betray her like that!" Erza roared, "You'd have to kill us first!"
The other Guild members yelled in agreement. Lucy's head perked up in shock.
"You can stop asking now cause we're not gonna give you any other answer!" Natsu shouted in fury, "We're taking every one of you jerks down!"
"Besides, if you think we'd just give up on our friend like that, then you fuckers got another thing coming!" Agreed Nero, as he swung out Yamato, dismissing it in a flash of energy before pulling out Red Queen and pointed it at the Phantom Lord Guild.
All the Fairy Tail mages began to roar in agreement. Their answer was final. They would never hand over Lucy, and they certainly weren't going out without a fight. Meanwhile, Lucy sobbed and placed a hand over her mouth. Her heart was touched by her Guild sticking up for her, willing to give up their lives for her.
"IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT THEN I'LL GIVE YOU A SECOND HELPING OF JUPITER!" Jose bellowed through the speakers, "You've got fifteen minutes to hand her over or you can consider yourselves all dead!"
"No way," Elfman gapped.
"What are we gonna do?" Cana asked.
"They're gonna fire at us again?" Loke stuttered.
Without warning, hordes of black phantoms flew out from the building and swarmed toward Fairy Tail.
"You're in quite a quandary, aren't yah Fairy Tail?" the master of Phantom Lord mocked, "There are only two ways this situation can play out. My troops will tear you apart or you'll be blown away by Jupiter!"
"Or we could use option three; knock you and your guild down a few pegs," retorted Nero.
"Are you kidding me?!" Macao yelled. "If he fires at us he'll be killing his own men!"
"Who would do something like that?" Wakaba added.
"No, he's gonna do it," Cana remarked, which made Macao and Wakaba's jaws drop, "Those Phantom soldiers are creations of Jose's Shade Magic. They're not human so it won't matter if they're destroyed."
"Doesn't make him any better," Snarled Nero, "just makes him more like a demon to me."
His comment went on ignored as Cana said, "We gotta do something to take out that Jupiter Cannon."
Natsu punched his open palm and stated, "I'm gonna smash that thing to pieces! I've got fifteen minutes to wreck it, right?"
Cana nodded.
Natsu smirked, that was all he needed to know. He then broke off into a sprint, "C'mon Happy!"
"Aye sir," Happy said as he picked up Natsu and flew him towards Phantom's Headquarters.
"We just gonna stand here all day?" Asked Nero sarcastically, glancing back at Gray and Elfman, "or are we gonna storm the castle?"
"Alright!" Elfman fist-pumped.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Gray added eagerly.
"I shall lead the defense out here," Erza proclaimed.
The trio nodded and then broke off into a sprint toward Phantom Lord Guild. Spinning around, Nero sent Spectral Bringer at Gray and Elfman and caught them both. Spinning around, he hurled them right towards the castle. The demon hunter leaped right after them.
Erza, meanwhile, stood tall and firm in front of the others and watched as the group flew into enemy territory.
"Be safe," She whispered.
She then turned her gaze to the hordes of ebony phantom troops that were swarming toward the Guild. A pair of magical swords appeared in Erza's hands as she got into a battle stance.
"We will not let those things destroy our Guild Hall!" Titania shouted, "Fight for Lucy, for Master Makarov, for our Guild!"
The wizards of Fairy Tail all roared in response.
The first phantom at the head of the attack, Erza slashed through it. It disappeared in a black haze. The final battle against Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord had begun!
To be continued ...
Okay, there are wanna a few things to address. First off, that slash attack Nero performed was not the Maximum Bet move Nero possesses in his move set, this is the new technique I talked about. It's similar to Dante's Drive attack, before some of start commenting that Nero doesn't have the ability to do that, outside his Devil Trigger, this is taking two years after Fortuna, so at this point he's had some practice with Yamato. Also, several cutscenes show Nero cracking a sort of Drive wave with Yamato, though wasn't used explicitly in the game. And if you're wondering, Nero got this power to create a Drive when he absorbed a portion of Gajeel's power. So it's not completely unreasonable. This chapter might be a little shorter, but for good reason. I want to keep most of the action in other chapters, and just have moments where things can cool down a little.
Also, I'm posting a poll shortly after this chapter goes up. It has to do with a future chapter, one that involves Nero fighting against Erza in a duel. And I want to know who you all think will win. Will it be Nero, Erza, or will it be a tie?