A/N: I really need to make sure I've got all my holidays straight... o.O
Well, since Goku Day is upon us, I decided to release the next chapter for this tale now, instead of on Memorial Day like I had originally planned. The good thing about this is that you all get a new chapter earlier! The downside is, I will not be releasing a chapter for this story on Memorial Day, and the next chapter will be released at the beginning of June.
However, if you also follow my Red Swordsman: Shattered Fragment story, you can still be in for a treat! I't's been a whilesince I've updated that tale, so I'm looking forward to what people have to say about it. But, you all are probably wanting to move on to this story, especially given the new cover art... Have fun!
OP song: This is War (by Thirty Seconds to Mars)
Rival Arc: Chapter 4
Twin Saiyans, Twin Destinies
"Duke of Veronica!" Gorun's shout startled the young ruler and the people present to witness the joining of the Phoenix Stones and Éclair's apparent execution. They all looked up to see the angry young man glaring down at them, accompanied by a girl whose face remained passive. "I'll have you return my comrade and the stone that you stole!"
He had finally made it to the central plaza of the city, having had to dodge a lot more arrows and magic bullets than he had been expecting. Azura, as she had promised, did not help him one bit as he blasted a path through the city. She only evaded the projectiles hurled at her, never even bothering to retaliate.
Directly in the middle of the crowd, Éclair looked up at him with wide eyes from where she was tied to a stake, a pyre ready to be lit beneath her feet. Her shock turned to hope as she smiled up at Gorun, happy to see that she was no longer alone.
"These stones are my birthright!" the arrogant noble shouted back at the Saiyan, gripping the small artifacts tightly between his fingers. "With them, I shall become immortal and rule over Veronica for eternity!"
"Idiot!" Gorun shouted back at him. "To do that, you'd have to revive the phoenix! If you think you can hold sway over such power, you just might be the biggest fool I've ever met!"
Levy had managed to scrounge up some texts on the origins of the phoenix stones, which Gorun had studied on the trip up to Veronica. Nothing in the books were good news. According to the legend, if the fire bird were to be revived by uniting the twin phoenix stones, it would grant its summoner eternal life, but at the cost of everything else being burned to ash.
"Of course I will master it!" the Duke sneered up at him. "Once I am immortal, I will do anything I please- starting with the annihilation of the Kingdom of Fiore! It is time my rule was extended to the rest of the world!"
"Try it and I'll blast you into the dirt!" Gorun replied, gathering the energy he would need for a Kamehameha. He wasn't actually going to kill the duke, but the snobbish ruler didn't need to know that.
The duke froze in place, apparently beginning to realize that he was in fact, in imminent danger. The crowd below him began to stir with anticipation and fear, unsure of what was to become of their monarch. Then a wicked idea struck him, and he pointed at the girl that had stolen his phoenix stone. "If anything happens to me, kill the girl!" he ordered.
Gorun froze, caught between a rock and a hard place. If he fired the etherion blast now, he could easily incapacitate the duke, maybe even scatter the phoenix stone so that it would be hidden for a little while. But if he did that, the man standing by Éclair with a torch in hand would be able to ignite her funeral pyre. Should he choose to save her, though, the phoenix would certainly be revived to wreak havoc upon the innocent bystanders, and even the world at large if it went on a rampage.
He looked over to Azura, who simply shrugged, maintaining a blank expression. Apparently she really didn't care which way the situation went. Damn her stubbornness, he seethed. If she would only help him, they could take down both threats simultaneously.
Maybe I could try for a Double Sunday? He thought as sweat began to line his brow. No, if I drop the Kamehameha, they'll both make their moves, and then I'll have really screwed the pooch.
"It seems that we have reached what educated people call an impasse," the duke sneered up at him. "But I won't wait forever, wizard. No matter what you do, the phoenix will be revived this night to crown me ruler of Earthland for all time!"
"Don't let him do it!" Éclair suddenly called up to the Fairy Tail wizard. "Whatever happens to me, the phoenix must not be revived!"
Gorun met her gaze, seeing the fierce determination there, the willingness to sacrifice everything to see that the horror of the ancient fire bird would not be brought back to harm anyone else. In that moment, he realized that there was no choice to be made.
Wendy had just finished demolishing a squadron of soldiers when she felt an alarming magical pressure begin to emanate from the city's central plaza. The ground began to shake, causing the remaining troops to forget about her as they looked to see what the disturbance could be. "Carla, we need to get up higher!" the girl shouted to be heard above the noise. "I think something big is about to happen!"
Gajeel and Pantherlily had just exited the sewer where a certain assassin would be spending a long time in a forced nap when the ground began to rumble violently, nearly throwing them back into the hole they had just crawled out of.
"What's going on?!" the exceed shouted.
"I don't get it," Gajeel replied. "I thought Gorun was the one goin' after the stones! Don't tell me he failed!"
"What's up with the earthquake?!" Gray asked from atop the roof of a theater where he and Erza had just finished pummeling Coordinator.
"I don't know of any earthquake that generate so much magic power, unless Jura is involved!" Erza answered, requipping into her Black Wing Armor. "And he's back with Master at the Magic Council emergency session!"
"What does that mean for us?!" Gray asked nervously.
"It means that we're likely about to have a fight on our hands."
"Okay, I'm not the only one sensing that, right?" Lucy asked nervously from her group's vantage point that overlooked the city of Veronica.
"Unfortunately not," Kinana winced. "If I'm sensing it correctly, that power is even stronger than Azura is."
"Power isn't everything in a fight," Romeo argued. "Gorun's always saying that."
"True, but it is a major factor in who can win or lose," Yukino replied. "I think we had better consider this the emergency call for help."
"I agree," Kinana nodded as she rose from where she had sat, smacking the dirt off of her dress. "And seeing as we're likely going to need all the power we can get, you and Lucy should get to fusing."
"Let's do this!" Romeo grinned, conjuring twin flames in his hands as he crowed, "I'm all fired up!"
Natsu, Happy, and Momon were all in a prison transfer wagon when the rumblings shook the area. They had all taken a severe beating from Dyst when they encountered him in the streets of Veronica. It had been a very one-sided match, Natsu being unable to even lay a finger on the guy due to his telekinesis magic. After blacking out, Natsu barely managed to regain consciousness as his motion sickness began to affect him.
"Happy…" he groaned. "We gotta… get out of here. Now, while they're distracted."
"Aye sir," the little cat called softly. Apparently he had managed to wake up first, though he had gotten off lightly with Dyst, all things considered.
Natsu gathered up Momon in his arms, since the little bird was still unconscious. "Okay…" he said as he struggled not to wretch as another tremor shook the city. "Let's do it."
"Aye sir!" Happy exclaimed as he grabbed Natsu's coat and shot up as fast as he could. They broke through the roof of the wagon easily, but the guards below them didn't notice, or didn't care.
As soon as they were airborne, it was easy to see why. "Oh man," Natsu said with narrow eyes. "Looks like we really stepped in it this time."
"You stupid, moronic, imbecile!" Éclair seethed as Gorun deposited her on a rooftop a few blocks away from the site of what was becoming the phoenix's revival. "I told you to stop the duke, not save me!"
"None of my friends die tonight!" the boy shouted back. "Not while I'm still breathing!" The tremors were getting worse, and the magic power coming from the phoenix stones was almost suffocating to his trained senses.
"You don't get it, now that the phoenix is revived, everyone will die!" Éclair said as she slapped him. "You shouldn't have saved me!"
"Look, I-"
There was a rumbling crash and a roar that shook the countryside more violently than anything it had experienced in centuries. Smoke and ash billowed up from the plaza, obscuring the source of the disturbance for a moment.
Then a strange head bearing three red eyes reared up from the debris. Gorun's eyes widened as he took in the site, both horrified and confused. "What the…?" he muttered. "I thought the phoenix was supposed to be made of fire!"
Other than some fires that had been started by the sheer amount of energy caused by the monster's resurrection, there were no flames to be seen. The body of the phoenix looked to be made of some kind of metal, with something like feathers adorning either side of its round face. The neck that joined the bizarre head led to an even stranger body as Gorun took flight again, seeking to get a better look at what the duke had unleashed.
He was just in time, too. As he gathered Éclair up in his arms even while she glared daggers at him, he just managed to avoid a huge, clawed arm that was some hundreds of meters in length that would have crushed him and the girl. Some kind of canvas-like material draped down from the limb, which could have made up a wing, but Gorun honestly doubted that the thing could even fly. The body was a giant sphere, and looked way too big for the rest of it to be able to take flight. The whole thing was completed by stubby legs and feet that matched the claws attached to its arms.
"That's the phoenix, right?" he asked the girl. "It's not some weird demon thing?"
"It might as well be," she muttered. "It will burn everything to the ground without regard for anything but its own existence."
"But where's the fire?!" he demanded, still feeling confused. Everything he had read said that beast was supposed to be a creature of fire, but this thing was-
Almost as if in response to his thoughts, the monster let out another roar, and this time, a ball of energy the size of a house appeared in front of its face. "Oh man," Gorun gulped as he read the energy levels coming from the ball.
The phoenix hurled- or spat, Gorun couldn't tell, since it didn't appear to have a beak, or mouth, or whatever it should have had- right at the pair, forcing him to bank hard towards the ground.
The ball whizzed overhead, just missing them. Instead, it went flying all the way past the city limits to crash into the mountain range that separated Veronica from Fiore. In a brilliant flash of light and heat, several pieces of the ancient borders were vaporized.
"There's your fire," Éclair scowled as he put her down again. Fortunately, the phoenix seemed to have lost interest in them. Unfortunately, that meant that it was now crashing through the city at random, staring down at anything that moved, which included a lot of civilians.
"I'm thinking I should put said fire out," the boy said with a grimace.
"Why do that when you can fight fire with fire?" Natsu said as he, Happy, and Momon landed next to them.
"Momon!" Éclair cried, reaching out to take her wounded friend from the Salamander's arms. He let her take the semiconscious bird, who groaned as he was transferred.
"What happened to him?!" the girl asked worriedly.
"We ran into that guy that moves stuff with his magic," Happy answered. "He beat up the poor guy because he wanted to save you."
"Happy, get Éclair and Momon to safety," Gorun ordered as he turned to face Natsu. "We'll handle the phoenix."
"Not alone, you won't," said another familiar voice. They all turned to see the rest of their team landing on the rooftop to join them. Gray was the one who had spoken, and now he moved to join Natsu and Gorun. "What's the game plan, Gorun?"
"Keep it busy, try to get it away from any civilians," he replied. "Natsu and I need a minute to prep for the fight."
"Whaddya mean?!" the fire wizard demanded. "I'm going in with 'em!"
"Not if we want a shot at destroying that thing," Gorun replied sternly. "Azura won't help us- not even sure she's still here, to be honest- so there's only one way I know of to match that thing's power."
"Who said I wouldn't help you?" They all tuned to see the blue-haired Saiyan girl descending to float a few feet away from them.
"You did," Gorun deadpanned.
"That was before I knew there was an actual fight to be had," she smirked at him. "Who knows? Maybe I'll even beat it before the rest of you get to it."
"I doubt that," her rival muttered. "But fine, I'll take all the help we can get right now. Keep it busy, while Natsu and I do what we need to do."
"Then let's get going," Gajeel grinned. "I'm more than happy to get in ahead of Salamander." With that parting sally, Pantherlily picked his partner up and together they shot toward the giant monster.
"I'm cool with that," Gray laughed as he conjured a bazooka. "Let's go, guys!" He charged off, leaping from rooftop to rooftop while the others flew after him.
Happy grabbed onto Éclair, who looked back down at Gorun one more time. "Stop it, at any cost," she told him.
"I will," he promised. "Now go! Find Lucy and the others, and get somewhere far away from here!"
"Aye sir!" Happy cried.
"What're we even doing?!" Natsu demanded as the trio flew away. "Why do they get all the fun?!"
"We're going to fuse, Natsu," Gorun answered him as the city was rocked with another round of explosions, courtesy of a dozen plasma blasts created by the phoenix. "You remember the dance we did back at the Grand Magic Games?"
"Yeah, but you gave the rings to Lucy and Yukino," the pinkette replied. "Don't we need 'em to make that work?"
"Not exactly, no," Gorun said with a shake of his head. "They're meant to be a stabilizing agent because if you normally fuse with uneven power levels, the result is a very weak, sickly transformation. But on the flip side, if we do it right, we'll be even stronger than we were when we fused during the games."
"How much stronger?" Natsu asked curiously, even as another round of explosions was set off by the phoenix.
"I don't have a number on it, but it'll be a big difference," Gorun promised him. "I just need you to do the dance while raising your power level as high as you can without actually releasing any energy. I'll match it, and we'll fuse. Can you do that?"
"We do this, and we can beat that thing?" Natsu asked as he looked up at the monster.
"It's our best shot," Gorun said. Strictly speaking, he knew that the potara earrings were a better alternative, but he didn't want to risk being permanently fused with someone else just yet. If the Metamoran fusion failed, he would try again with the potara, he decided.
"Then let's do it," Natsu grinned. "One condition, though."
"Condition?" Gorun repeated.
"We break that jerk's face up there, first," Natsu said as he pointed at the phoenix's back. Gorun focused on where he was pointing, enabling him to see Dyst atop the monster, trying desperately to break through the metal hide, but to no avail.
He's trying to gain immortality by getting its blood, he realized. According to the texts he had read, the monster's blood was the key to eternal life. Whether or not that was true, he wasn't certain anymore, seeing as pretty much everything but the phoenix stones had turned out to be false.
Still, it wasn't a risk they could take, Dyst becoming immortal. "Natsu, it'll be my pleasure to knock his teeth in," Gorun grinned at his friend. After all, Dyst had been largely responsible for the destruction of their guild hall. It was time for payback.
"Ice-make: Cannon!" Gray shouted as he blasted at the phoenix with a frozen missile.
"Iron Dragon Roar!" Gajeel bellowed, aiming for the left wing.
"Sky Dragon Roar!" Wendy added, joining her attack with his, the tornado sending the metal shards whirling even faster to strike at the monster.
"Black Wing Moon Slash!" Erza cried from beneath its belly, hoping that maybe she could pierce its thick armor and lay waste to its innards.
To their collective dismay, none of their attacks so much as scratched the thing. "Come on!" Gray complained. "What do we have to do to beat this thing?!"
"Where the hell are Salamander and Gorun?!" Gajeel added.
"You don't need Kaidon for this," Azura said confidently as she floated up to be beside the Iron Dragon Slayer. "I've got all the firepower we'll need to take this beast down. Hyah!" With a flash of light and pair of golden magic circles, she ascended to her Super Saiyan 2 form.
The phoenix apparently noticed, because it swung its head up and around to look directly at her, even as she smiled fiercely at it. "Hello, ugly," she said mockingly. "Let's see if you have enough sense to dodge. Ka…"
"I think we should move away from here," Pantherlily told his partner, who grunted in agreement. As they moved away from the girl, the others took the hint to do the same, even as the phoenix prepared to retaliate, a crackling ball of plasma appearing in front of its face, this one bigger than the others before it.
"That can't be good," Gray muttered.
"What, the phoenix's attack, or Azura?" Erza asked him.
"Yes," he deadpanned.
"HA!" the girl shouted loud enough for them to hear, the Kamehameha slamming directly into the phoenix and knocking it back several paces, causing it to crash through several city blocks as it took the brunt of the blast. Then, impossibly, it stood its ground against the giant etherion blast, digging its talons into the pavement to hold fast to its position. An instant later, it hurled the giant energy blast at Azura, intent on blasting her into atoms.
That's when a brilliant flash of light came from a nearby rooftop, obscuring the others' sight for a moment. When they could see again, they were all surprised by what they were witnessing.
Narun was floating between Azura and the glowing ball of energy, his hand keeping it at bay with no discernable effort, and a confident smile on his face. "Looks like we're just in time for the fun part," he said. His loose-fitting clothes and blue sash streamed out behind him as he kept the deadly attack at bay.
"I had that!" the Saiyan girl said as she rounded on him. "Why are you even using the Metamoran fusion anyway? I saw those potara earrings Kaidon was wearing."
"He had his reasons," Narun replied while rolling his eyes. "Now let us get to work- we've only got thirty minutes to do what needs to be done."
"I can handle this!" Azura shouted, before she was backhanded by Narun into the nearest street, the impact leaving a crater in the ground where she landed, and knocking the wind out of her.
"Clearly," he said, making no effort to hide his sarcasm as he tossed the plasma blast skyward. "For the record, they both really wanted to do that." Looking back at the phoenix, he cracked his knuckles, grinned widely and said, "All right. Time to have some fun!" With that, he shot towards the behemoth of a monster, drawing his right fist back. "Fire Dragon IRON FIST!" The blow connected solidly, actually making the phoenix stagger from the impact, and leaving a solid dent in its stomach.
"Okay, is it just me, or is Narun way stronger than last time?" Gray asked of no one in particular. "Cos if he could throw a punch like that, there's no way Sting and Rogue would've lasted more than a few seconds against them."
"Indeed, his magic power has grown greatly since his last appearance," Erza mused as they watched Narun go to work, blasting the phoenix with flames hot enough to be felt even as far away as they were, and punches that sent shockwaves across the city. "Perhaps his power increases with every fusion they perform?"
"If that was the case, the new kid and Lucy's combination would be stronger than Gorun by now," Gajeel pointed out. "It's gotta be something else."
"We should worry about that later!" Carla shouted. "Shouldn't we be helping people evacuate, or finding where Éclair and Happy went?"
"We need to be ready to back him up if he needs it," Gray insisted. "I'm staying here."
"As will I," Erza said firmly. "I get the feeling that we have yet to see the true terror of the phoenix."
Narun punched the phoenix a few more times before he was satisfied that he had a general idea of how to handle his newly elevated strength. Putting his fingers to his forehead, he engaged instant transmission to appear directly in front of Dyst atop the phoenix's backside, who simply glowered at their appearance.
"And who are you?" he demanded as he raised his hands at him.
"You might think of us as Fairy Tail's guest star," the fused warrior grinned at him, but it wasn't a friendly expression. "We're only called on when someone has trespassed against our guild one time too many. Call us Narun."
"Die, Narun!" Dyst shouted as he unleashed a blast that would not only knock this new fighter off of the phoenix, but also rip his skin entirely from his body.
Or at least, it should have. To his utter shock, not only did Narun take the blast head-on, he flew directly at him and grabbed the assassin's arm, locking his grip like a vice. "Looks like we gotcha," he said.
"How dare you?!" Dyst roared as he sent blast after blast at the boy grabbing on to his arm. However, no matter how hard or fast he hit the new wizard, he didn't budge.
"No, how dare you?!" Narun shouted back. "You attacked our guild and kidnapped our friend, and all for what? Some spoiled brat?!"
"As if I would allow that buffoon to inherit eternal life!" Dyst snorted as he finally managed to wrench his arm loose from Narun's vice-like grip. "No, the phoenix's blood will be mine, and then I shall rule over humanity for all time!"
"Yeah, like these people need another crappy ruler!" Narun snorted as he began to advance again, his fists lighting ablaze. "What would you know about being a king, anyway?!"
"The only thing you need to rule is power, and I will possess unlimited power when I am granted eternal life!" Dyst answered. Narun rushed forward while he was talking, aiming to punch his enemy into the ground. However, he stopped when Dyst held his hands out, unleashing a new stream of energy from each palm that met with his fiery fists, trying to push him back.
"That kind of gift would be wasted on you, because you don't know the first thing about life!" the Saiyan/Dragon Slayer snapped.
"I know how to end it!" the assassin growled, redoubling his efforts to push Narun back, but to no avail. It was as though the fused wizard was a stone statue, and he was a child trying to move it out of his way.
Narun was about to utter a retort when something caught his attention. "What the…?" he muttered as he noticed several strong power levels surrounding the phoenix.
"Let's rock, babies!" a familiar, high-pitched voice cackled, followed by the sound of several lasers being fired.
"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!"
"Is that…?" Narun murmured, Dyst all but forgotten, despite the assassin's active attempt to try and kill him.
"Dark Ecreture: Slice!" a calm, collected voice called from next to one of the phoenix's feet. A shockwave followed the owner of the voice, and Narun caught a flash of green hair and a red jacket.
"Hey, Natsu!" a deeper voice called from a nearby rooftop. The fused wizard turned to see Laxus standing above the smoke and ash, now surrounded by his Thunder Legion, with a smug grin on his face. "Stop wasting time already! Be a real Fairy Tail wizard, and kick his ass!" A moment's thought sent a lightning bolt that finished wrecking the street beneath the phoenix's foot, causing it to stumble, and throwing Dyst off-balance.
"With pleasure," Narun chuckled, his smile brought from the fact that he had noticed everyone that had attended the Grand Magic Games was now present for the battle against the ancient monster. Fixing his gaze back on Dyst, he added, "You're toast now- you hurt one Fairy, you target us all."
"And what will you do about it?" Dyst growled as he struggled to maintain his balance and keep Narun back at the same time.
Narun paused to gather the energy he would need before shouting, "We're gonna make sure you don't hurt anybody, ever again!"
"Rrgh…" the man grunted. "I still don't have the phoenix's blood!"
"No, what you don't have is any respect for human life!" the fused warrior snarled.
"It doesn't matter, for I shall rule for the rest of time!" the telekinetic wizard spat.
"Like hell we're going to let a guy like you live forever!" Narun shouted as a golden magic circle, tinged with orange highlights appeared above his head.
"Yeah, crush him Narun!" another mingled voice called up from one of the ruined houses. Lucino grinned up at him as he spared her a glance, flashing him a thumbs-up next to Kinana, who nodded solemnly at him.
"Takeover: GOLDEN DRAGON SOUL!" he roared, his black-and-pink hair already standing on end. With a burst of golden flames, Narun was obscured from view, but the overwhelming power that he had been exerting skyrocketed, surpassing the phoenix by several leagues.
When his visage was revealed, even having seen both Natsu and Gorun undergo some amazing transformations, everyone was surprised by what they saw. There was the golden hair and green eyes of a Super Saiyan present, but now he was also covered in matching scales on his arms and cheeks, much like Natsu's Dragon Force.
"I'm thinking we wanna steer clear of that," Romeo said, his face pale despite the heat of the flames being generated by Narun and the phoenix's battle.
"Seconded," Kinana agreed. "Come on, everyone! We need to get to a safe distance!"
"How far is that gonna be?!" Cana asked as she began to run away with the others.
"A mile should be okay, maybe!"
"Maybe?!"
"Now…" Narun said as he held out both hands in front of him while floating above Dyst and the phoenix. "Have a taste of some Super Slayer magic!" A golden ball of fire came to life in front of his palms, the heat so intense that the plasma blasts from the phoenix seemed like little campfires compared to an erupting volcano. "Brilliant Flame… KAMEHAMEHA!"
The fire instantly incinerated everything in the remains of the plaza. The castle, Dyst, the Duke of Veronica, some of the surrounding buildings… Even the phoenix melted away after a mere two seconds under the hellish flames, leaving nothing but a molten puddle of whatever metal had made up its body.
As soon as he saw the body of the monster disappear in the golden fire, Narun released the spell and let out a satisfied sigh. "How about that, Éclair?" he murmured. "None of us had to die to stop it."
The girl had actually witnessed the entire battle from the sidelines with wide eyes. After Happy had taken her away from the impending conflict, they wound up meeting with the others that had come to infiltrate Veronica- and many other members of the guild that had originally agreed to stay behind.
"What brought you guys out here?" Happy had asked them.
"We all decided to say 'screw the small team idea' and came to help you guys," Macao grinned at the blue exceed. "Looks like you could use it right about now."
"No!" Éclair had protested urgently. "Please, you must get away while you still can! The phoenix will destroy you all!"
"Girl, we're not going anywhere," Cana had grinned at the other brunette. "Gorun and the others are out there, putting their lives on the line, so we're gonna be there to support 'em. That's just how we do things in this guild."
"A real man isn't afraid to face death alongside his friends and family," Elfman had declared.
Now, it seemed as though their faith in one another had been rewarded. The ancient monster lay dead at Narun's feet, and the ones that had sought to use its power for themselves were no more.
"I can hardly believe it…" she whispered as she fell to her knees, overcome. At long last, her father could finally rest in peace, and her task was done.
"I don't believe it," Makarov said, though there was no sense of wonder in his voice as he spoke. His face was actually marred with a frown, drawing the attention of his children to him.
"What's wrong, Master?" Romeo asked, confused. "Narun just roasted that thing. It's dead."
"I'm not so sure…" the elderly wizard scowled even harder. "Something is amiss here. Kalard's weapon was supposed to be the only thing capable of truly destroying the phoenix forever. If that's the case, Narun may have simply sealed it away again."
"No, that's not it," Éclair said, her eyes narrowing as she looked back at the puddle that had been the phoenix. "The people of Fire Village, long ago… They had a method of sealing the phoenix away, but it didn't require destroying its body. And if he didn't seal it away, then…"
That's when the air began to heat up again.
"Kaidon, you glory-hogging bastard!" a familiar voice shouted as the owner flew up to meet the fused fighter with a furious expression on her face. "The one good fight I could have had here, and you stole it from me!" Azura fumed.
"Hey, it's not my fault you didn't finish it sooner," Narun shrugged. "Besides, this world has plenty more to offer. Apparently, this thing is nothing compared to the dark, immortal wizard Zeref, or the dragon of the apocalypse, Acnologia. If you want a good fight, go battle one of them."
"You still stole this one!" Azura shouted. "You told that if I came, I would find a good fight, and just when I do, you steal it out from under me!"
"You did try to kidnap your cousin," Narun pointed out as he folded his arms across his chest. "Consider this payback, we guess."
"Why, you-!"
A raging pillar of fire erupted next to them, causing both wizards to throw up energy shields to withstand the flames' wrath. Even so, they were both taken aback by the new energy they were sensing, Azura because of the sheer magnitude of it, and Narun because it seemed somehow familiar now.
"What's going on?!" he shouted, confused.
"Put it out, you're part fire wizard!" Azura yelled at him.
"Even I can't eat that much fire!" he tossed back, even as the flames began to warp, pulling back in on themselves, and taking a general shape. As it did, Narun felt a chill run down his spine, in spite of the heat. "I think you might get that fight you wanted," he said warningly.
"At long last… I… am… FREE!" a deep, grating voice said from within the raging fire, which was now beginning to take on an avian shape.
The other wizards watched in horror as the fire bird revived itself, its power greater than ever before. "Well…" Romeo said, his voice quaking, despite his efforts to control it. "At least it looks like a phoenix now."
"Master, the weapon!" Erza said, snapping some of her comrades out of their stupor, including the old man. "Do you have it?! If we can use it, now is the time, while it's not yet noticed us!"
"Y-Yes," he stammered, turning to Jet, who held a long, brown leather case. "Let's not waste any time, then."
"What weapon?" Éclair asked in a shaky voice.
"Four hundred years ago…" Makarov muttered as he undid the clasps on the case, "Your father, the wizard Kalard, created the Light of Absolute Destruction in order to destroy the phoenix stones. It was entrusted to the magic council for safekeeping, and I brought it here to finally end this madness."
"Hold on a sec!" Lucino demanded as Makarov opened the container to reveal a long, heavy war arrow. "Go back to that part about four hundred years ago!"
"So you figured it out," Éclair said somberly as the other members of the guild looked at her with intrigue. "I'm surprised- I only just put all the pieces together myself."
"Wait, so Éclair is four hundred years old?" Kinana asked, her eyebrows raised. "But… How?"
"When the phoenix was initially sealed away, other villages sought to take its container from mine by force," Éclair answered. "They only succeeded in filching one of the stones, and I alone escaped the carnage. With his dying breaths, the elder gave me the blood of the phoenix that we had collected, granting me immortality… But apparently also wiping my memories in the process."
"That… explains a lot, actually," Gray muttered. "So you've just been wandering around for the last four hundred years, all alone?"
"With the exception of Momon's company for the last two decades, yes," Éclair nodded.
"Well, you can forget that noise," Lucino grinned confidently at the other woman. "You're stuck with us from now on."
"What?" Eclair was confused as everyone around began to smile at her, nodding and adding their voices to Lucino's.
"We've been bringing in a lot of strangers into our family lately," Carla said with an uncharacteristically soft smile. "What's one more?"
"You all…" Éclair paused, bringing a hand up to her face, to hide the stinging in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, my children, but as much as it pains me to say this, that will not be possible."
"Someone wanna explain to us what in the name of sanity just happened?!" Narun demanded as he found himself face-to-beak with the phoenix.
"You…" the phoenix rumbled as it fixed its eyes, two points of yellow flames amid the orange, onto Narun. "You are the one who freed me, yes…?"
"So it would seem," the Super Slayer said through gritted teeth.
"Then unto you I bestow my gift of longevity!" it bellowed, bringing its face even closer to him, its right eye practically singeing the hair off his head. "Have you a flask, human?"
"Yes…" the fused boy answered uncertainly. "Why?"
"Do not test my patience, or I shall revoke my gift, you unworthy ingrate!" the monster snarled. "Produce the flask, and do it now!"
"You heard the bird," Azura snickered, enjoying the sight of Narun being ordered around. "Come on, you don't actually have a container on you, do ya?"
"Bite us," Narun replied with a smug grin as he pulled out a small glass container, causing Azura's jaw to hang open for a moment.
"Where did you have that?!" she demanded. "Why did you have that?"
"Gorun had to keep the metamo-rings somewhere before he gave them to Lucy and Yukino," Narun shrugged. "This thing is sealed by magic- only etherion can get it open."
"Hold the flask beneath my eye, human," the phoenix commanded.
"We hope you realize that now we're doing what he asks just because it's to spite you," Narun chuckled as he did as the monster demanded.
"Wow, you must be getting this from the one with the pink hair, because Kaidon was never that petty," Azura deadpanned.
"What can we say?" Narun grinned. "We're the best of both worlds. Hey, is it just us or the fire monster crying into the container?"
"Bwuh?"
"My tears hold the power to grant eternal life," the beast explained as a few red drops akin to blood dripped into the small container. "This is my gift, reserved for the one that would one day free me from that accursed prison!"
"Oh, is that all?" Narun asked as he pulled the now-full container away and re-stoppered it. "So now what? Gonna fly off into the sunset? Find a nice volcano to call home?"
"Foolish human… the world is my home!" the phoenix bellowed as it reared its head up before letting out a piercing call. "And now I shall cleanse the blight of all humanity from this world, with the exception of those who share in my immortality!" It took flight, buffeting the two warriors with scorching winds as it rose high above the city, shrieking its triumph.
"Okay, so you felt his power level, right?" Narun asked his 'ally' as he stuffed the flask into a safe part of his sash. "How high it was?"
"I did…" Azura scowled.
"Because even fused, that thing is at least ten times stronger than we are," the Super Slayer added.
"I'm aware," the girl said shortly.
"Are you still going to try and solo it?"
"You have a better idea?!" Azura demanded angrily. "Your fusion will run out in less than twenty minutes, and then both of your counterparts will be completely spent. If anyone can take that thing out, it's me!"
"Or we could tag-team it before my time runs out," Narun shrugged. "Look, you don't like us, we don't like you. But we're pretty sure the Supreme Kai of Time was crystal clear when she marked this world as your new home. If you want to have a place to live, then we need to hit this thing with everything we've got."
"I'm pretty sure Kaidon said that he'd rather drop dead than work with me in the field," Azura snorted. "Why the sudden spirit of cooperation?"
"Two reasons- one, we would very much like to live past the next two minutes," Narun replied as he pointed up at the phoenix, which was still ascending above them. Then, pointing a thumb at his chest, he grinned, then added, "And Gorun isn't all of who we are. There's a guy in here named Natsu Dragneel who would rather see the phoenix go up in smoke rather than let the world burn. And you do your cousin too little credit- if either of them can save their guild, they would throw everything else away, even their pride and grudges."
Azura quirked an eyebrow upward before letting a small smirk curl her lips in the same direction. "Throw away everything, huh?" she muttered. "How un-Saiyan. I suppose I'll just have to hold on to the grudge for both of us, then." Looking up at the phoenix, she added, "Kaidon owes me a rematch for this."
"I'm sure he'll oblige, once we've turned that fire bird into a turkey flambé," Narun grinned as she unleashed her full potential. "Thanks, Genora."
"Don't go all Kakarot on me, I'm still mad about that punch from before- and a lot of other things besides!" she snapped before she streaked toward the phoenix at the speed of sound.
"No way, not gonna happen!" Gray said angrily as he glared down at Makarov. "This is murder, Gramps! The Fairy Tail I joined would never hurt one of their comrades!" The guild master had finished revealing a horrible truth- that in order for the phoenix to die, Éclair would have to perish as well.
"This is not something I want to do, believe me," Makarov said somberly. "But if this the only way to destroy that monster forever, then it must be done." He looked over to Éclair and implored, "Surely you understand."
"I do," she nodded, surprising everyone else present. "If the price to destroy that beast is my life, then I shall pay it gladly. You have my blessing."
"Well, you don't have ours!" Lucino shouted as she knelt in front of the immortal woman. "You have a place in our hearts now, Éclair! It's not just your life you would be giving up!"
"It is her life, and she can do with it what she chooses," Makarov said dully, clearly not enjoying the scene unfolding. "It is not your place to tell her what she can or cannot do, Lucino."
"I don't care!"the celestial mage snapped. "Who are you to take her life, huh?!"
"Erza, if you would…" Makarov said with a deep sigh as he held out the arrow to the redhead. "I need you to shoot the phoenix with this."
Titania reached out and grasped the heavy instrument of death, a deep frown overcoming her face. "No, master," she said sternly. "I will not."
The old man looked up at her with surprise first, then fury. "Erza, we cannot allow the phoenix to live! It will destroy us all if you don't! As your guild master, I am ordering you to-!"
"Forgive me if I am wrong, but didn't you expel your son, Ivan, for trying to kill one of our guild members?" Erza interrupted him bluntly. A complete silence fell over the assembled guild members as they stared at the pair with wide eyes. Even Laxus, unshakeable for the most part these days, looked unsettled by the harsh words.
Makarov fell silent, a haunted look coming over his face. He looked as though he had aged another five years in a mere two seconds. "What Ivan did was treacherous and only meant to benefit himself," he said in a grave voice. "I do not want this, Erza. But the world will burn if we do not act now."
"Then let us act," Erza said as she held the arrow over her bent leg. Before Makarov or Éclair could stop her, she snapped it in half over her knee.
"Erza!" Makarov cried, horrified. "What have you DONE?!"
"I have acted in faith," the S-class mage replied, a glow surrounding her that hid her body from view. "Now I ask that everyone else do the same. Requip!" The glow shifted from her standard golden color to a deep red that seemed familiar to the others.
"You may have just doomed the entire world because of your faith!" Éclair shouted as she got to her feet, faced flushed red with anger. "You and your friend both are such irresponsible fools!"
"Perhaps we are, but then we're all fools together," Kinana declared as she stood up. "Who's with us?"
"Count me in," Gray said with confident grin.
"Like I'll miss a chance to fight a myth," Gajeel smirked while Pantherlily nodded his agreement.
"I'm going, too!" Wendy added.
"We all are!" Romeo shouted. "There's no one Fairy Tail can't beat!"
"Yeah!" everyone but Makarov and Éclair cheered.
"Let us remind the world of that fact," Erza declared as the glow heralding her transformation faded away.
"Whoa," Lucino said as the realized that she was wearing a new outfit. "What's this one called, Erza?"
'This' was a sleek suit of armor, black spandex of some sort covering her body underneath a series of red lacquered plates that went over her thighs, abdomen, and shoulders, each of them trimmed with silver. A white breastplate with matching gloves and boots ran down the sides of her stomach, a blue Fairy Tail mark on her left hip. Unlike most of her other outfits, she was not armed with a sword, mace, spear, or any other kind of graspable weapon. Instead, she had wicked-looking set of crimson, spiked knuckledusters built into her gloves.
"I call it my 'Fairy Kai Armor' in honor of Gorun," Erza explained to the others. "The First Master helped me work out the issues I was having with getting it to work."
"What does it do?" Mirajane asked curiously.
"Join me in battle and see for yourselves!" Erza shouted as she took flight, racing to join Gorun and Azura, who were just beginning to attack the phoenix in the upper limits of the sky.
"Dark Ecreture… Flight!" Freed shouted as he swept through the ranks of his comrades. "Go, join them!" he said once he had passed through the entire group, applying purple runes to those that could not fly, or did not have a partner capable of doing so. "I only imbued you with the power for ten minutes- after that, we'll have to return to the ground!"
"Sweet!" Romeo laughed as he took off into the sky after Erza.
"Don't hog all the fun, kid!" Gray warned him.
As they flew off, Eclair shook her head in despair as Makarov watched them go with a hollow look in his eyes. "You stupid bunch of brats," he groaned.
"Hey, ugly!" Azura shouted as she came up to be level with the phoenix. "Where do you think you're going?!"
"To begin my reign of fire," the monster replied. "Now, be gone!"
"Yeah, we're thinkin' we're gonna have to decline on that one," Narun said as he rose up to hover beside her. "Also, neither of us is interested in immortality. See, one of us is already kind of going to live for the next few eons, so… No thanks!"
"You dare reject my gift?!" the phoenix bellowed, sounding quite offended. "Who do you think you are?!"
"Just a wizard from Fairy Tail who'd like his home to stay the way that it is," Narun replied, bringing his hands to his side. "Time to fight fire with dragon fire!"
"Give me five minutes, and I'll have something to send him packing," Azura said as she raised both of her hands skyward, pale blue energy beginning to gather above a complex magic circle of the same color.
"A spirit bomb?" the fused wizard asked, surprised. "Nice."
"Picked up the technique after Kaidon left," she replied. "Now get going! I need to maintain total concentration since I haven't completely mastered this one!"
"One big distraction coming right up!" Narun grinned as his orange Kamehameha swelled to the size of a melon.
"It is not wise to discuss your strategy in front of your opponent," the phoenix growled as it glared at Azura. "You will pay for your insolence!"
"If I had a zenny for every time someone told me that…" Azura muttered under her breath.
"Fire Dragon KAMEHAMEHA!" Narun bellowed, letting loose with his attack as soon as the fire bird moved against his blue-haired companion. There was a scorching explosion at the point of contact which seemed to do little more than annoy his target.
"You dare to use my own element against me?!" it roared. "And to think I deemed you worth of inheriting my gift of eternal life!"
"You have no one to blame but yourself for that one, pal," Narun laughed. "Also, you might want to duck."
"What?"
Before Narun could say anything else, a torrent of different elemental magics slammed into its body, most of them evaporating on contact, but still grabbing the monster's attention.
"Aw man!" Wendy groaned. "I thought that would've done way more damage!"
"We couldn't put a scratch on it before it was released from that weird metal body, so what led you to think that he would be easier to take down now?!" Cana said, a little exasperated by her comrade's naivety.
"Doesn't matter how hard this is, we're taking him down!" Gray shouted as he prepared a new ice-make technique. "Narun, what's the plan?!"
"Keep him busy and tank Azura!" he replied as he dodged a flaming bolt of magic that the phoenix hurled at him. "Give it all you've got, don't hold back even a little!"
"In that case…" Kinana muttered. "Second Origin: Release! Kaioken!" As soon as she had finished powering up, she cupped both of her hands by her left shoulder and screamed, "Gallick Gun, FIRE!"
Even as she and Narun led the assault against the monster, those that were capable of doing so also proceeded to unleash their hidden reservoirs of power. Wendy and Gajeel tapped into their Dragon Force, with Laxus following suit. Magic of all kinds blazed across the night sky as the fairies flew around, above, and below the ancient beast, much to its aggravation. Their attacks didn't hurt it for the most part, but they were annoying like mosquitoes.
Things really got interesting when Gorun and Kinana were unleashing a joint Masenko at its wing, hoping that perhaps they could cause it to lose altitude if they could keep it from re-sealing the wound with its flames. They were joined by Erza, resplendent in her new armor as a red aura blazed to life around her.
"What kinda armor is that?" Narun grunted as he kept his focus on the yellow laser flying from his palms.
"Wait just a moment," the redhead answered as she concentrated. "Now… Kaioken!" The red aura blazed even more fiercely, and Narun was taken aback by the new development.
"Be careful!" he warned. "That technique can cause serious stress to your body if you aren't used to it!"
"That's the beauty of the design!" Erza laughed as she held out her hands, palms open to face the phoenix. "The armor refines the technique in such a way that it puts no strain on my body, only my magic power!" Red energy blasts flew from her hands, peppering the phoenix with small explosions at each point of contact.
"Etherion blasts?!" Kinana yelped in surprise. "What's next, a Kamehameha?!"
"No, not yet!" Erza said as she maintained her grin. "Perhaps someday, when I've had more practice. For now, let's focus on the problem in front of us!"
Even as she finished speaking, the phoenix let out a roar, and waves of fire erupted from its body in all directions, similar to a Fire Dragon's Wing Attack. Narun snarled and used instant transmission to move in front of Azura and shield them both with an energy field.
"Thanks," she muttered, her brow bent downward in concentration.
"We're just here to protect the spirit bomb," the fused warrior replied. "How long until it's ready?"
"Just another minute," she grunted as she looked up at the energy sphere, which was nearly rivalling the phoenix in size now, ignoring the verbal jab. "Will your people last that long?"
As the flames finally dissipated, Narun lowered his shield and replied, "They'll last as long as they need to. Just worry about finishing that bomb." Then he was off again, flames trailing behind him as he prepared an Iron Fist.
He was joined by Gray, who unleashed a Seven Sword Strike right after he knocked the phoenix's head upward, leaving its throat exposed. Gray's blades struck home, but they didn't seem to do much against the heat.
"Damn!" he growled. "What does it take to kill this thing?!"
"Considering it's supposed to be immortal, probably a lot more than we got," Narun admitted. "Fortunately, Gorun's cousin has it handled."
"Cousin?" Gray repeated with a raised eyebrow.
"You got another short term for an alternate temporal twin?" Narun replied dryly.
"Gotcha," his friend chuckled. "Complicated relationship, I guess. Ice-make: Arrow!" He let loose his attack without pausing in his conversation with Narun, causing a small cloud of steam to billow around the bird's body.
"Kienzan!" Narun shouted, hurling the disk at the bird's neck. He seriously doubted that he could behead it, but it was worth a shot.
Just as he predicted, the projectile passed through the thing's neck, but it just re-attached itself to the body without a pause on the bird's part. "Looks like he's really immortal," Narun scowled.
"Hey, if anyone can wreck an immortal, it's this guild," Gajeel grinned as he and Pantherlily floated beside him while Gray went in for another close attack. "They're too dumb to know what 'immortal' even means."
"Kaidon, I'm ready!" Azura shouted from where she had remained since the battle had begun. "Get everyone away from it!"
"You heard her!" Narun bellowed as loud as he could. "Retreat! That technique targets those with impure hearts, but the blast radius can still fry us we're too close!" The others took the hint and began to head back to the surface as fast as they could.
"Where do you think you're going, little ones?" the phoenix snarled at them. It began to dive, even as Azura threw the now-huge bomb at it. The blue sphere chased after the ancient fire bird, but it wasn't going to catch up in time for it obliterate the beast before it could attack the others.
Narun looked back to see the monster gaining on them and cursed. He was only minutes away from being forced to diffuse, and when he did, there would be no one left to slow it down enough for the others to get away. Azura was too busy steering the bomb to be of any help in keeping it back, which meant that he would need to do it himself.
The issue was that if he expelled too much energy in one go, he might end up running out of time early. As it was, he was using a new transformation that had never been seen before, so he had no idea if it was going to affect his time limit.
Aw, what the hell? He thought resignedly. This entire battle's been a massive risk. Might as well go for broke.
"Super Slayer Secret Art!" he shouted, coming to a stop between the phoenix and his friends. Some of the others looked back to see him conjure a huge golden-orange magic circle as he drew back his right fist. "Crimson Lotus… DRAGON FIST!"
A massive, spectral dragon like the one Gorun had used against Zirconis shimmered into existence as Narun charged back up at the ancient menace. However, unlike the golden, green-eyes serpent that the Saiyan boy had summoned, this one was red with blazing orange eyes.
The phoenix faltered, caught off-guard by the appearance of a dragon that was even bigger than it was. Then the conjured lizard smashed into it with thunderous force, dragon fire forcing phoenix flames back up into the air- and right into the massive spirit bomb that it had been avoiding.
There was a resounding explosion, and the two fire beasts were swallowed up by the energy of the etherion blast. So loud was the sound that no one heard Kinana screaming in terror.
"Did… did that do it?" Freed asked heavily, panting for breath.
"Let's hope so," Mirajane muttered in her demon form. "None of us have very much fight left in us."
"Speak for yourself," Gajeel chuckled, though he too was sweating and breathing heavily. "I could… go for another round with that thing."
"This isn't the time for false bravado!" Carla chided him. "I'm still sensing a monstrous amount of magic energy above us."
"It's gotta be Gorun," Romeo said as he floated next to Kinana, who was watching the dark smoke that had resulted from the meeting of the flames and spirit bomb, waiting for the first sign of her boyfriend to come out of it with that easy grin of his, just like he always did.
"He's right, it'd take more than that to finish him," Macao agreed as he floated beside them. "Just wait, I'm sure he's-"
"There!" Happy exclaimed as something began to drop from the smoke, but just who or what it was could not be made out immediately. Then it cleared the smoke and ash, and they all realized that it was not one, but two forms falling from the sky.
"Gorun!" Kinana shouted as she flew up to catch him once she noticed that he wasn't slowing down as he fell toward the earth headfirst.
"I'm coming, Natsu!" Happy added as he went to retrieve his best friend. The pair caught up their friends and were immediately alarmed at the state they found them in.
"They're all out of magic power!" Kinana shouted as she rushed back to rejoin the others. "They're barely alive!"
"Does fusing without the rings do that to you?" Lucino asked nervously.
"No, that's what happens… when you piss off a phoenix apparently," Azura groaned as she floated down through the smoke to join them, bruised and burned. "They used up all their energy with that last attack, but the backlash from the phoenix's fire, coupled with the spirit bomb explosion… They're lucky to be alive."
"Wendy, help them!" Kinana begged.
"R-Right!" the girl said as she allowed her Dragon Force to fade away and had Carla take her closer to them.
"No…" Gorun protested weakly as he stirred in his girlfriend's arms. "Senzu beans for Natsu and I… Help Azura first."
"Why?" she asked, though Wendy moved to do as he asked.
"Because… we need to be ready to fight again, soon as possible," he grunted as he reached into his gi's shirt. He pulled out a green bean and crunched on it quickly, blinking as he felt his pain wash away and his power being restored in seconds.
"What do you mean, fight again?" Cana demanded. "You blasted it with that crazy-giant death ball! It can't still be alive, can it?!" Despite her arguments, everyone looked up expectantly at the cloud of smoke again, dreading the answer that their friend would provide.
Gorun shook his head as he looked back up at the smoke while floating on his own power once more, the ash slowly beginning to dissipate. "We wounded it, that's for sure. Looks like we even managed to extinguish him for a minute. But I can still sense its life force… And it's getting stronger by the second. He's coming back for round two."
"And he's probably gonna be angry about being bombed," Lucino said dryly.
"But how do we beat it permanently?" Erza asked as she came closer to him while he reached for another senzu bean. "There has to be something we can do."
"If that didn't kill it, I doubt there's anything we can do, aside from throwing it into the vacuum of space, or becoming gods," Azura muttered, hating the fact that she was being forced to concede defeat.
Gorun's head snapped up as she spoke, having just finished force-feeding Natsu the magic food. "Hold on a sec," he said quickly. "What'd you say?"
"What, the space idea, or becoming gods?" Azura replied. "Because even we aren't powerful enough to push him into space, fusions or not, and we don't have ten, or even five other saiyans to help us use the Super Saiyan god ritual."
"No… but we have plenty of strong wizards present," Gorun said as he looked around at his friends. "They could help us. Or at least, help me."
"Why you?" Azura demanded. "Also, history clearly states that you need five Saiyans, not humans! Your plan won't work!"
"But we're not all Saiyan, are we?" Gorun said with a delighted grin. "Part of us is human. And in my case, I've already got divine blood in my veins. Maybe the same rules won't apply to us."
"I'm sorry, what was that about divine blood?" Azura asked, completely bewildered. "Are you sure the phoenix didn't knock your brain loose?"
"Didn't you catch how the Supreme Kai of Time called herself my grandmother?" Gorun reminded her.
"I honestly thought that was some weird term of affection she had for you, seeing as you were always her favorite," the girl replied sourly. "But you're saying…"
"Yeah, apparently I'm her and Trunks' grandson," Gorun nodded. "My mother was able to achieve Super Saiyan Blue even though my father never could, remember? She's the only one other than Goku and Vegeta that has ever managed to achieve and sustain the divine power on her own."
"Because she's half-kai," Azura realized aloud. "Oh…"
"Maybe with a little help, I can do the same," her cousin said while maintaining his smile. "What do you say? Shall we give it a shot, or would you rather try to fight the phoenix the same way twice?" As he spoke, they all realized that the air around them was growing uncomfortably hot again.
"We don't have very long," Erza said sharply. "If you two have a plan, we need to know what it is, before the phoenix comes back."
"Well, Azura?" Gorun demanded sharply. "Are we going to do this or not?"
The blue-haired girl looked between her rival and the smoke obscuring the reviving phoenix a couple of times before she muttered, "All right, we'll try it. But I'm honestly expecting this to blow up in our faces."
"Maybe if you keep up that attitude," Gorun snapped.
"Is everyone ready?" Gorun asked the circle of people that had joined hands with him and each other. "You know what to do?" He and the rest of the Fairy Tail wizards were inside of a storehouse in the ruins of the city, one that had yet to be damaged by the battle. They knew it wouldn't hide them for long once the phoenix was back up to full strength, but it was better than nothing.
"Pour all of our energy into you that we can muster without killing ourselves," Laxus replied. "Yeah, we got that." He, Kinana, Natsu, Gray, and Erza were the ones that had volunteered to donate their power to his potential ascension.
A few feet away, Azura had joined hands with Mirajane, Wendy, Gajeel, Lucino, and surprisingly, Juvia. The rain woman had been avoiding Gorun and Gray during the battle, which explained why Narun hadn't realized that she was there the whole time. Looking back on it, Gorun realized that he had seen her in his peripheral vision a couple of times, but he had been preoccupied with stopping the immortal fire bird.
"Let's do this," he announced. Everyone else nodded their agreement, and thus did they begin the transfer of power into their Saiyan comrades.
Immediately, a blue glow surrounded the twelve participants, drawing several gasps of surprise from them, Azura included, but Gorun remained calm and collected. "Keep going," he told them. "It's working."
"I don't believe it…" Azura whispered, in awe of that fact, and the power she could feel flooding her limbs.
Up above, they could hear the angry screeches of the phoenix, and the explosions that were caused by its vengeful search. However, they all ignored it as best they could while they continued the ritual.
When the last dregs of power had been absorbed by the two Saiyans, they began to float upwards, the blue auras swirling around them and seeping into their flesh. There was a blinding glow, and intangible pulses of energy that heralded their new transformations. Those that had participated staggered back, exhausted, but also eager to see what the result was.
They didn't have to wait long. Soon after they were swallowed by the divine light, the two warriors descended back into their midst, now changed by the power they had received.
"Hey, what's the idea?!" Natsu demanded. "I thought this whole thing was supposed to make 'em stronger! Why aren't I sensing any magic power comin' from them?!"
"I think it did something to them," Romeo said as he pointed at their heads. "Check out the new hairdos!" Both Saiyans were now sporting bright red hair and eyes, just as Romeo had indicated. However, unlike their previous transformations, their hair stayed the way it was in their base forms instead of standing on end.
"Did they lose some weight, too?" Wakaba said with a frown. For indeed, although they were still well-built, their muscles had definitely become much slimmer than before.
"They actually look weaker now," Gajeel scowled. "Seriously? All that for nothing?"
"Maybe we did it wrong?" Happy asked nervously.
"No, we succeeded," Kinana finally said. "They've become Super Saiyan gods. The reason we can't sense their energy is because mortals can't detect the power of divine beings like them."
"So… they can beat the phoenix now?" Cana asked worriedly.
"We'll soon find out, won't we?" Gorun answered with a sly grin. Looking at his comrade, he added, "Ready to try these new powers out?"
"Hehe… Twin gods against a phoenix," Azura grinned fiercely. "If only Grandpa Vegeta could see us now."
"Told you this world could be fun," her comrade chuckled. "Now let's go!" His body suddenly began to emanate a fiery aura, Azura following suit. The others still couldn't sense their energy, but they became aware of a pressure in the air that was strangely intimidating.
Then, faster than they had ever seen anything move, the two newly-awoken deities shot up, crashing through the roof and out into the open to challenge the phoenix. It happened so quickly that it took the other wizards a few seconds to realize what had happened.
"I guess it did work," Laxus grinned. "So, who wants to go watch them fight the phoenix?"
"Count me in," Natsu grinned. "If I can't take part in the fight, I definitely wanna watch it!"
"Can't let him go alone, so I guess I'll be joining you guys," Gray smirked.
"C'mon guys, we all know we're going," Gajeel said while rolling his eyes. "So let's just get a move on, already."
Azura and Gorun both stared at the phoenix, which glowered back at them. "You were unwise to reveal yourselves to me," it growled. "You will suffer my flames a thousand times before I send you to the depths of darkness. I am the immortal phoenix, and I will not be made to suffer such-"
Blam!
The fire bird went soaring upwards at an unexpectedly high speed once Gorun's fist connected with its face. "The biggest problem with bad guys?" he muttered as he stared up at the monster, which was struggling to right itself and figure out what on earth had just happened to it. "They don't know how to shut up and just fight."
"Then let's give it a lesson in how combat is supposed to be," Azura grinned with a fierce gleam in her crimson eyes. "Basic fighting one-oh-one: remedial kick-ass."
"Oh man, I love that class!" Gorun laughed as they became crimson comets rocketing up toward the fire bird, ready to end it once and for all.
Mataras: Are you done?
Gorun: ...Yes.
Mataras: Good. Now, I'm already predicting at least a little bit of backlash for the ascension method, but honestly, if the rules about becoming a SSJ God were so strict, there's no way the group would have been able to pull it off in the Battle of Gods film. Most of the people participating were at least half-human, so I don't think what I've done here is much of a stretch. Also, if you thought the fusion was too easily accomplished, just remember that Natsu has displayed a keen eye for attention to detail when it comes to fighting techniques on multiple occasions. When the stakes are high, he knows not to screw around (too much), and Gorun has had a lifetime of practice in altering his power levels. The fact that they have successfully performed the technique before would also lend itself to their chances of success, even without the metamo-rings.
Azura: You really are concerned over the potential criticism of these maneuvers, aren't you?
Mataras: Little bit, yeah.
Gorun: Ah, don't worry about it too much. People will like it, and they'll review, or they'll hate it, and they won't come back. You've made up your mind on how this story should go, and that's that.
Saiki: What a pain, having to worry about how your work is received.
Mataras: I value the consumer's thoughts on the matter!
Azura: He's just going to keep worrying about it, let's move on.
Gorun: Coming June, 2019- Demon vs Divinity.
Saiki: If you wish to see an image of Azura and Gorun in their god forms, find Mataras on Instagram at the_red_swordsman
Next time on Saiyan Tail...
The twin deities were everywhere at once, it seemed. Armed with the energy given to them by Fairy Tail, they were a force without equal. Etherion blasts rained down on the raging fire bird, accompanied by blows that could have levelled mountains, all of which was being delivered so rapidly that there was no time for the monster to retaliate.
"What is this?!" the phoenix raged after a few moments of this treatment.
"This is what happens when you try to burn our home down, monster," Gorun replied as he zipped over to be in front of its beak. "There are consequences when you hurt the ones I care about."
"You are all of you, nothing!" the phoenix bellowed defiantly. "Humans are mortal, and mortals are nothing to the Etherious!"
"The what now?" Gorun asked, cocking his head to the side curiously. "What's a-"
Blam!
"Less talking, more pummeling!" Azura shouted at him as she leaped off of where she had slammed her feet into the monster's head. "We don't have forever in these forms!"
"All right, no need to be pushy," Gorun snorted. With a lazy flick of his wrist, he sent a Kienzan at the phoenix's wing, shearing through the flaming canopy. Sparks and magma dripped form the wound this time, and it didn't look to be resealing itself, either.
"Azura!" he called as he pointed. "He's not regenerating!"
"So we can beat him," she affirmed with a terse nod. "Then let's get to it!"
Saiyan Tail Profile
Subject: Narun
Fusion Technique: Metamoran
Counterparts: Son Gorun and Natsu Dragneel
Conception/ Author's Commentary:
Narun is honestly a large part of why this story even exists in the first place. I remember thinking one day, 'What if a Saiyan and a Dragon Slayer fused? What would that look like?' From there it took off onto a series of questions that were mostly designed to create a believable scenario in which that could happen. A few months after that, I started releasing chapters for Saiyan Tail, and I have loved every minute of it.
For a while I couldn't decide whether or not to make the fusion happen via potara earrings or the metamoran dance, but eventually I settled on the latter, since I want to save the kai's technique for something special. I'm also a big fan of the clothing style that comes about from this type of fusion, so that was a double-win for me.
Personality-wise, I thought that he would probably have the attitude of a typical fusion; brash, kind of a show-off, but also aware that his time is limited, so he has a tendency not to hesitate in combat. Unfortunately, I don't see much of an opportunity to develop his character outside of battle, but then, that's not really the point of a fused person. Either way, I'm glad my brain cooked him up, because he's a lot of fun to work with.
Known Techniques:
-Fire Dragon Slayer Magic/ Natsu's Moves
-Etherion Magic/ Gorun's moves
-Twin Fire Stars: a move inspired by Lord Slug's Twin Darkness Stars. Narun conjures two balls of etherion/dragon fire and sets them on an erratic rotation pattern around his body, allowing to either intercept incoming attacks, or send them forth as projectiles. Each bolt has the destructive capabilities of a Big Bang Attack, and has been shown to be strong enough to stun third-generation dragon slayers.
-Brilliant Flame Kamehameha: a move inspired by Gogeta's Big Bang Kamehameha. Narun conjures a large ball of dragon fire in front of himself then makes it erupt in the direction away from him with his etherion. In his base form, the attack was powerful enough to be on par with Natsu's Crimson Lotus Exploding Flame Blade. When used in combination with the Super Slayer transformation, the heat it generated was enough to melt the armored shell of the phoenix, and incinerate an entire section of Veronica in the span of two seconds.
-Crimson Lotus Dragon Fist: a move inspired by Goku's Dragon Fist. Narun conjures a spectral dragon containing massive amounts of etherion and dragon fire that envelops his body before charging at his opponent to deal catastrophic damage to them. The exact potential of this move is unknown, as it was used against an immortal in tandem with a Super Spirit Bomb.
Known Transformations/ Enhancements:
-Super Slayer (Golden Dragon Soul):
A transformation that combines the powers of Super Saiyan and Dragon Force, giving the user the golden hair of an ascended Saiyan and the scales that appear on the body of a Fire Dragon Slayer when they are at their most powerful, though they are also gold in color as opposed to a dark red. Multiplies the caster's power by 75 times that of their base strength.
Equipment/ Items Used:
-Metamo-Rings
-Sealed Container
Accomplishments:
-Defeated Sting and Rogue on Day Four of the Grand Magic Games
-Killed Dyst in the battle against the phoenix
-Destroyed the base form of the Immortal Phoenix
Stats (Metamo-Rings):
-Power: 7/7
-Speed: 7/7
-Technique: 6/7
-Intelligence: 5/7
-Cooperativeness: 4/7
Stats (Traditional Fusion):
-Power: 9/7
-Speed: 8/7
-Technique: 7/7
-Intelligence: 5/7
-Cooperativeness: 4/7
Fun Facts:
-Narun appears to be aware of the attraction between Natsu and Lucy, as he compares it to the bond that Kinana and Gorun share, though Natsu has not yet said anything on the matter, despite retaining memories of being fused
-Narun's base form (when created with the metamo-rings) is thought to be as strong- if not stronger- than Gildarts
-Although not shown in the story, Narun is prone to motion sickness like Natsu
-His guild mark is a dark green with a crimson outline, located on his right bicep