Hi everyone, thanks again for waiting. Now Fairy May Cry's Devil Hand arc resumes as the main antagonists begin to make their final move. The war between Fairy Tail and Devil Hand begins now!
Rise! Temen-ni-gru!
Natsu, Lucy, and Happy's eyes each radiant with fear as they saw the eldest son of Sparda gazing down upon them with his ice-cold glare, his own blue robe flowing in the wind like a cape. Lisanna however looked at him with surprise rather than fear; this man, he seemed so much like Dante and yet so completely different as if he had an identical counterpart from Edolas like everyone else, this man would be it.
"Vergil? As in, Dante's twin brother?" Lisanna questioned. "That Vergil?"
"Aye." Happy nodded, his voice being a fearful squeak.
The aforementioned half-demon's eyes set upon the white-haired girl. "So, you do indeed live." He spoke directly to her, causing Lisanna to back up slightly. "I am partially curious as to how it is possible and why you remained hidden for two years, but at this point it is irrelevant to me."
Natsu growled as he quickly ran in front of Lisanna. "What the hell do you want Vergil?! You hear for a rematch?!"
Lucy was quick to step by Natsu's side as well, her hand on her Celestial Keys. "If you're looking for Dante, he's not here! And were not telling you where he is either!"
Vergil stepped off the severed train car and landed on the ground, equal to their level. "That's fine. I'm not here for Dante. I want Lisanna Strauss."
That took them by surprise. "Me? Wh… why would…"
"Wait…." Lucy's eyes widened with shock. "Don't tell me…. Are you a part of Devil Hand?"
"I lead Devil Hand. I am that guild's master."
Their eyes widened with absolute shock and fear. "SAYWHA?!" Happy screamed, his eyes being white circles.
"You're… the… the leader of Devil Hand?!" Natsu questioned before his glare resumed. "Why the hell did you form a guild of Demons?! And why do you want Lisanna and Angel to?!"
"I have no intention of killing them, that I can assure you." Vergil stated. "And that is all I will say. Lisanna, you will be coming with me one way or another. Come with me willingly and I give you my word that no harm will come to you or your comrades. Resist, and while I cannot afford to kill you, I make no guarantees for their lives."
Lisanna was starting to understand now why no one in Fairy Tail talked about him. Vergil just said he kill her friends if she didn't come with him. One look into his dark eyes was all the evidence she needed to know that he was completely serious and he wouldn't hesitate for even a second to do it. Before she even had a chance to speak up, Natsu already had both his fists light on fire.
"That ain't happening you jerk! I won't let you or any of your Devil Hand cronies lay a finger on Lisanna!"
Vergil simply sighed. "Have you so soon forgotten our previous encounter, Natsu? Only now my brother is not here to save you."
Natsu glared a bit before looking back to his friends. "Lucy, Happy, take Lisanna and get out of here, I'll handle Vergil."
"By yourself?!" Lucy shouted with worry. "Natsu, last time you tried to fight him you almost died!"
"She's right! If I fly you out with Lisanna and Lucy summons a super fast spirit…" Happy tried to plead
"You know we can't outrun him!" Natsu interrupted. "I'll keep him busy, but you need to go!"
"Natsu…" Lisanna tried. "I… I can't leave you…"
"GET OUT OF HERE!" He shouted. "You're no match for him, Lisanna! Just go!" Before anyone else could say anything, Natsu shot a powerful breath attack at Vergil, causing an explosion at what was left of the severed train car.
"RUN!" He shouted to them.
There was a blur that shot past him and gunned right for Lisanna. Vergil appeared right in front of her shocked face as both Lucy and Happy were shoved aside. Before he could make any move however, Natsu had already grabbed him and shot flames from his feet to propel them both upward and further down westward away from the train tracks.
While airbore Vergil was able to break free of Natsu's grip, but this gave the Salamander an opening to deliver a fiery-roundhouse to his chest to knock Vergil down toward a pond. The blue-robed half demon landed on his feet, ankle-deep in water, where Natsu landed with a thud in the water directly across from him.
"Hmm, your flames have gotten stronger." Vergil noted.
"A lot's happened since we butted heads and I'm a lot stronger now than I was then!" Natsu exclaimed as both his fists lit on fire again.
"As have I." Vergil stated. "And just as before, you will fall. That I promise."
Natsu roared as he shot at Vergil with flaming fists, who simply flicked Yamato in response.
Lady shot her rocket at multiple oncoming enemies; which were revealed to be armored individuals resembling black knights with dark blue energy underneath the armor as opposed to flesh. A group of them ran towards Lady with swords in hand, only for her to shoot another rocket and blast them away.
She yelped in pain as she felt something graze her shoulder. She looked behind onto a set of rocks to see a trio of the same sort of black knighted beings wielding bows and arrows as they shot a volley of arrows at her, which she ran toward the side to avoid as she spun her rocket and shot it again at them; blasting them to pieces. The broken shards of the armor fell upon the ground to reveal not flesh but flowing energy that dissipated. Before she could even catch her breath she spotted a flicker of light out of the corner of her eye and had turned around just in time to block a sword strike from another black knight.
"Where the hell did these guys even come from?! What are you!?"
As she grew frustrated, Belphegor simply sat on his hovering throne observing the scuffle with a bored expression permanently attached to his face.
Mira rolled out of the way to avoid a punch from Satan that caused a tremor in the ground. Once she got back up she immediately transformed.
"Take Over: Satan Soul!"
Once she transformed into her titular appearance as the She-Devil she gunned straight for Satan and punched him across the face to send him reeling back through a series of rocks. However before she could do anything next she looked down in surprise to see a series of spiders crawling up her legs.
"What the….?"
Asmodeua had a lustful smirk on her face. "Lets see you escape this. Web Net!"
The spiders exploded around Mira and she found herself completely encased in webbing, which tightened around her body to prevent her from moving.
"Hold her still!" Satan rushed at her at a speed that would seem impossible for one as big as him. He pulled back a fist, as it appeared coated in some sort of red fire.
"Blood Flame Strike!" He shot his fist in her face, resulting in a red explosion that sent Mira flying back and skidding across the ground before smashing into a large boulder, which almost shattered upon impact.
"I ain't done yet!" Satan had jumped above her before she could even recover. "Bloody Rain!" With a swipe from his hand he sent a hail of red rain-drop-like projectiles directly at her, which exploded upon impact. Satan landed on the ground outside the dust cloud and with a maniacal smile lunged directly into it with another reeling fist only for Mira's hand to shoot out and catch it.
The dust cleared to reveal Mira had been battered a bit, but she was far from beaten. Her free hand surged with blue lightning as she readied another attack.
"Evil Spark!" She shot the attack at his chest, which electrocuted Satan and sent him skidding back slightly, though he retained his footing. Suddenly though, before Mira could press on, she felt something hit her from behind, it was Asmodeua.
Her nails began to glow with a green energy as she lunged at Mira. "Spider's Venom!" She slashed at Mira's side with her claws, causing her to yell as Asmodeua moved at a quick and unseen pace around the Satan Soul user while slashing her repeatedly with her green claws before Mira had enough.
"Satanic Blast!" She quickly raised her hand up in the air and created a large sphere of dark energy before it exploded outward to send Asmodeua, as well as Satan flying back.
The two Deadly Sins groaned a bit as they stood back up and faced her. "She's tougher than I thought." Satan said as he wiped the blood from his mouth with a smirk on his face. "I hadn't had a real fight in ages!" His body began to glow with a red aura as his muscles started to become larger, much to Mira's surprise.
"Don't stop Mirajane the She-Devil!" Satan exclaimed. "Fight me! Hurt me! Everything you do will only make me stronger!"
"Oh enough!"
They all looked to see Leviatha walking toward the scene with an irritated look on her face. "Honestly you two are too much to handle."
"Why the long face, kid?" Satan questioned. "Just having some fun."
"Were not here to have fun! We have a mission, remember?" Leviatha reminded.
"Yes I know." Asmodeua rolled her eyes. "Still, its hard for me to take my eyes off that." She gazed at Mira's body. "However, while her Satan Soul is powerful, I much prefer her normal appearance. It's so much more…. Alluring." She licked her lips. Mira didn't know why, but now she felt very uncomfortable with the way the dark wizard was looking at her.
Leviatha rolled her eyes "You just stay back, I'll handle her myself!"
"Fine, she's all yours." Asmodeaua relented.
"Just don't hog all the fun." Satan stated.
Leviatha turned her full attention towards Mirajane who now spoke directly to the younger girl.
"Why are you doing this?" Mira questioned Leviatha. "A child has no place in a guild like this!"
"None of your damn business!" Leviatha told her. "You should worry about yourself!" A dark magic circle appeared underneath her feet.
"Take Over: Satan Soul!"
A brief dark purple flashed engulfed Levitatha before she took up a new form. She looked nearly identical to Mira's Satan Soul transformation with notable differences. Instead of dark purple, her body was green with pale white skin and black-clawed hands and feet with black wings. Her hair was brown instead of white with green emotionless eyes. She was notably smaller than Mira, but that didn't mean she was less dangerous.
Mira was completely stunned. She heard that Leviatha could copy another person's magic and had done with Grey's Ice-Make magic, Carla's Aera magic, and even Wendy's Sky Slayer Magic. But to actually see it, to see someone copy her own Take Over ability like it was originally hers to begin with, that was something else entirely. She was so stunned that she was unable to react to Leviatha soring directly at her and landing an uppercut to send Mira soaring up to the sky with Leviatha following right after her.
Lady had blown away another set of black knights as she saw the position Mira was in. "That's not good." She aimed her rocket at Leviatha and was ready to shoot her down, but five dark blue magic circles surrounded her before a black knight materialized in each one with a sword in hand; forcing her to use the blunt of her rocket to block their sword strike.
"Oh god damn it!" She cursed in frustration.
All the while, Arkham merely stood on an elevated rock observing both fights with his every-creepy stare, simply waiting. They were close, so very close, and he was not about to let anything stand in his way now.
Angel sat in her solitary cell; a single eight-by-ten room with no windows, just a bed and a toilet, and a lacrima on the ceiling to serve as a light source. She would be here until Devil Hand was dealt with. Not exactly a paradise, but it beat being used for whatever Devil Hand had planned for her.
Unlike before however, Angel wasn't as depressed, though she was far from happy, she didn't feel as trapped. Ever since meeting Dante, and how he saved her life despite her past sins, it gave her a chance to reflect a bit on her life. How did she end up like this? The whole reason she was here, it was because she joined the Oracion Seis, a Dark Guild, to escape the Tower of Heaven. But she only ended up there because she was protecting….
The moment that memory came to her mind, she feel a great sense of regret in her. Why did she join the Oracion Seis? Why couldn't she have just left to find her sister? True it had been years and she had no idea where she was or if she was even alive, but there was still a chance, right? But now any chance of seeing her little sister again was all but gone. She probably forgotten about her by now, and it wasn't like the Magic Council was about to give her a parole. Tears began to fill her eyes, crying for someone she never felt she would ever see again, and it was completely her fault.
"Yukino…. I'm so sorry…"
Her thoughts of sorrow were interrupted by the sounds of screaming coming from outside. It sounded like a warzone was going on out there. She stood up and slowly walked to the door, but as she walked closer and tried to analyze the sound it actually sounded like more of a slaughter. She even heard loud crunching noises and then her eyes winded in horror, because it was right outside her cell. She quickly backed to the wall afraid of what was beyond that.
Then there was silence. A deathly silence that only seemed to make her more nervous than calm her. Suddenly a pair of bone-like fingers tore through the side of the door as it was pried off its hinges and thrown away.
Angel gasped in terror at the appearance of the Wendigo, which had a half-eaten corpse of a Rune Knight still in its mouth before it opened and chewed a bit more till it was all gone and a large stain of blood all over its skull mouth was that remained. Angel was ready to scream but her look of terror became one of confusion when a large amount of grey steam had flown off the Wendigo's body. It shrank and condensed till all the leaves, twigs, and bones fell off to reveal the child-form of Beelezub.
"Wha… what was…. You're… your just a kid!"
"My childhood died a long time ago." Beelezub said with no emotion in his voice whatsoever.
"You'll have to forgive the kid, he's a real emo." Mammon stepped into view as he and Iblis walked into the cell. "But then again, I guess being stuck with the Wendigo inside your body could do that to ya."
"Who… who are you?"
"My name is Iblis." The leader of the Seven Sins greeted. "This is Mammon and Beelezub. We are agents of the Devil Hand guild; and you, our poor little fallen angel, are coming with us. And before you ask, this is not a request."
Angel's pupils shrank. Devil Hand?! Here!? Just when she thought she was safe from them, they broke into the tower and were ready to make off with her?! Being propelled by pure terror Angel ran past them and out the opening.
Before she even made a few feet she screamed and covered her mouth at the sight that laid before her. The entire hallway was covered in blood with the broken and mutilated remains of what she could only guess were the Rune Knights. She even looked down to her feet to see a severed head of one such Rune Knight a face of terror stuck on it. Not even during her time in the Oracion Seis or as a slave in the Tower of Heaven did she see something this morbid.
The next thing she knew a lasso of rope had completely ensnared her, binding her arms to her body. What was strange though was this rope appeared to be made out of solid gold. Mammon, with the golden rope in hand, pulled Angel back and she fell to the ground.
Mammon gave a whistle before he spoke with a cowboy-like accent. "She's a feisty one right there." He came toward her and pinned her down to the ground before began to tie her up.
"No! Let me go! Please!" She shouted and begged as Mammon tied her hands behind her back while securing the rope that kept her arms to her side.
"Sorry sweety but our boss needs you." He said before he began to tie her ankles together so she couldn't run away.
Angel tried to scurry away but looked up in fear as Iblis stood above her. She was ready to scream but the woman already covered her mouth with her hand and waved her finger in front of Angel's face.
"Screaming for help? What a shame." Iblis began to speak as though she were scolding a child. "You used to be a feared Dark Wizard, one of Six Demons, a legend in the criminal underworld. Now look at you, just a frightened child so easily captured; you're not even putting up a fight. You are a disgrace." Mammon had finished tying her legs as he gave Iblis a cloth. The woman removed her hand from Angel's mouth before she tied the cloth around. She finished tying and looked down at Angel's frightened face, their eyes mere centimeters apart.
"You have no one to blame but yourself for this. You lost because you are weak and this is what you deserve for that weakness."
With that devastating verbal blow, Iblis threw the bound and gagged Angel over her shoulder. "Come on, we're going."
Angel saw the young Beelezub looking around at the carnage one more time before looking towards Angel. She couldn't speak but her eyes were that of desperate pleading, begging the boy to help her. Though his face bore no emotion there was a hint of regret glimmering in his eyes.
"Sorry."
"Come on kid, were leaving. Unless you wanna lick your plate." Mammon laughed at his own joke before Beelezub shot him a glare, causing him to shut up.
"Enough! We are leaving!" Iblis ordered as the trio walked out with their captive, and all the smallest glimmer of hope had faded from Angel as she resigned herself to her fate. Now all she could do was wish someone would come and rescue her from this nightmare.
"Please…. Yukino…. Someone…. Dante…. Help me!"
Vergil threw a vertical-wave outward with a slash from Yamato to intercept the fireball thrown to him. Natsu flew out of the dust with both his arms coated in fire.
"Fire Dragon Wing Attack!"
Natsu had sent a powerful flame wave, but Vergli sliced through it with his katana with little effort, but Natsu had planned on it was he had suddenly appeared directly under Vergil and delivered an upper-cut to his jaw to knock him upwards.
"Fire Dragon Talon!" Natsu delivered a flaming-roundhouse to knock Vergil across the water.
"Fire Dragon Roar!" He had hopped that this attack would hit Vergil while he was off-guard but that wasn't the case.
"Darkslayer!" Using his style imbued with his katana, Vergil had sliced through the breath attack as though it were made of butter. Both halves exploded behind him for dramatic purposes.
"You've mildly improved." Vergil noted. "Your experiences since our previous encounter have indeed made you stronger, if ever so slightly."
"I see you're about as egotistical as ever." Natsu growled.
"Childish insults." Vergil dismissed. "But if you are finished playing, I am due to acquire my prize."
"Over my dead body." The Fire Dragon Slayer glared.
"If that is what you wish." Vergil sent another vertical wave towards Natsu; which he swerved to the side to avoid as it made a splash in the water of the pond they were standing in.
Fire shot from Natsu's feet as he gunned straight for Vergil again with a firey-fist realed back. But Vergil shot him a glare. The second Natsu's eyes set up Vergil several unpleasant memories filled his mind. He recalled Vergil's transformation into his Devil Trigger during their first fight, how he got demolished, and that slice across his chest that almost killed him.
Natsu's fire stopped as he felt himself slowing down. This gave Vergil an opening to grab his wrist, twist it, causing Natsu to scream in pain before grabbing him by the back of the head and slamming him face-first into ground underneath the water.
"You slowed down." Vergil noted as it appeared he was drowning Natsu. "When in battle, you should never hesitate. Take that lesson with you to the grave, Natsu Dragneel."
"Open! Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!"
After a flash and the sound of a doorbell, Vergil was blasted back by a large stream of water, which came from the urn of the Celestial Spirit Aquarius, whom Lucy had just summoned from the water in the pond.
"Nice shot Aquarius!" Lucy told her.
"I hate egotistical men." Aquarius stated. "They're almost as irritating as you, Lucy."
"Gee thanks." The blonde said with a sweatdrop on her forehead.
Happy had managed to pull Natsu out of the water and set him down on dry land next to Lucy as he coughed the water out. "You okay Natsu."
"Yeah I'm fine…." He quickly realized something. "Wait… I told you guys to run!"
"What and leave you behind?" Lucy questioned. "You know us better than that!"
"And you Vergil is… wait… where's Lisanna?!"
As Natsu began to worry, Aquarius continued to pound Vergil with a continuous stream of water, but suddenly he stopped and there was a brief flash of white light before the water around him exploded outward, revealing the blue-robed half demon having just equipped himself with Beowulf.
However, before he could go onto attack, Lisanna suddenly shot out of the water behind him, in the form of a mermaid with her tail being pink with green fins. She grabbed Vergil before pulling him underwater.
Natsu's face was one of shock while Lucy just smirked. "She actually came up with the plan. Aquarius would keep him distracted up front, she ambushes him from behind and pulls him underwater."
"Aye, she'll keep him there till he looses consciousness and then we'll be all good." Happy added.
"Right, thanks again Aquariu…" Lucy's eyes shrunk in comic fear as Aquarius glared down at Lucy with glowing red eyes.
"I had to call of my date with my hunky Scorpio because of you cow!" Aquarius exclaimed with comically sharp teeth. "Pull another stunt like that and I'll drown you in your own toilet! GOT THAT?!"
"YES MA'AM!" Lucy screamed.
Their attention was diverted to the sound of a mixed splash and explosion at the center of the pound where Vergil had emerged with Lisanna airborne. He gave a kick with his Beowulf grieves to send Lisanna flying back and smashing into the ground a bit distance away.
Before any of them could react to that; a flash had already smashed into Aquarius, sending her skidding across the ground and creating a crater with Vergil on top of her. He quickly and ruthlessly pounded her with his Beowulf gauntlets; breaking nearly every bone in her body before finishing with a powerful punch to her head; causing her to explode in golden particles before vanishing back to the spirit world.
"No! Aquarius!" Lucy exclaimed in shock. Though that particular spirit was not exactly on her friends' list it still shocked her beyond belief to see her beaten so ruthlessly and graphically.
Vergil shot Lucy a glare, causing her to fall down in fear. However, Natsu was already on his feet and running toward Vergil ready to deliver a firey-punch, but once he tried to deliver, he had already leapt into the air rather high and fell down to deliver an axe-kick onto Natsu's back to impact him hard into the ground, creating a perfectly round crater with Natsu in the center.
He spotted a glimmer out of the corner of his eye and swerved to avoid the whip-attack from Lucy's Fleuve d'etoiles. She tried to snap the celestial whip at him again, but he allowed it ensare around his right Beowulf gauntlet and with his own strength, combined with Beowulf, he pulled her into a knee right into her abdomen, causing her to fall to the ground and moan in pain.
"Natsu! Lucy!" Happy was about to fly toward them, but Vergil appeared in front of him, causing the flying blue exceed to be paralyzed with fear.
"These games annoy me." Vergil grabbed Happy in his Beowulf gauntlet. "I do not have time for any of this." He was about to crush Happy, only for a fireball to hit his back and stumble slightly.
He turned around expecting Natsu, but for the first time in a very long time, Vergil looked with honest shock and surprise.
"Take Over: Dragon Soul!" Lisanna soared at Vergil in her Dragon Take Over form and landed a successful punch across Vergil's face to send him flying back.
Happy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Lisanna."
"Happy, go help Natsu and Lucy. I'll keep Vergil busy." She told him.
"Aye, just be careful. He's very dangerous." Happy warned.
"Yeah, I'm starting to see that." She said before she flew toward the recovering Vergil.
His look of surprise hadn't vanished when she appeared in front of him. "Inferno Blast!" She shot a point-blank breath attack right at him, scoring a direct hit and engulfing him in flames. Vergil jumped out of the fire with Lisanna flying right after him with her dragon-wings.
"Dragon Soul? What kind of take over is that?" He dodged many of her claw strikes. Though her new ability was certainly powerful, Vergil's own speed outclassed hers as he dodged all her attacks while trying to wrap his mind over this new development. "This new appearance of hers is unexpected, even her flames feel near identical to Natsu's, the flames of a dragon."
Vergil vanished from one of Lisanna's claw strikes and suddenly appeared behind her where he grabbed her and kept her arms and wings pinned to their sides.
"You possess the power of a dragon? How is this possible?" He questioned her. She didn't answer as she struggled to escape his grip but he was too strong. "Did Natsu somehow pass his power onto you?"
She stopped struggling as she looked at him in surprise. "How did you…"
He let her go, causing her to stumble back as she turned around to see his face was one of disappointment. "He did." He spoke with a sigh. "This is unfortunate." He removed Beowulf from his person as he held out Yamato. "You are no longer of use to me."
He sent a diagonal wave towards her with the slash of his sword. She instinctively flew back, only to back into a large rock. She happened to duck underneath the slash as the rock exploded to knock her down and the debris pilled on top of her.
Vergil shook his head before gazing back towards Happy as he was helping Natsu and Lucy back on their feet before vanishing from their sight much to their confusion.
Ultear happened to be watching the entire battle from a safe distance on a mountaintop, with her crystal ball floating next to her head, when Vergil appeared next to her.
"Did something go wrong?" She mused. "You don't have the girl."
"There is a change in plans." Vergil simply stated.
"Oh?" A smile appeared on her face. "Is the mighty Vergil stumped by something?"
Vergil looked toward her, but it wasn't in response to her jab. While this wan an unexpected development, it had appeared perhaps an effective back-up had now just presented itself to him. He may yet have his way after all.
"Allow me to ask you something, Ultear." Vergil began. "Why is Grey Fullbuster still alive?"
Her smile vanished, not expecting a question like that. "I beg your pardon."
"You are aware of his position in Fairy Tail and now of the guild's location." Vergil continued. "Ending his life shouldn't have been too difficult for you, especially given your own level in power compared to him."
"Why would I go so far out of my way to remove an insect like him?" Ultear questioned irritably.
"Perhaps because he was trained by your mother, Ur." Vergil responded. Ultear did not expect those words to come out of Vergil's mouth. "I told you before, I make it a habit not to underestimate my enemies; I learned the personal histories of Fairy Tail's strongest members, including him, and incidentally yours. You were abandoned by your mother and replaced by two young boys, which is why you feel such resentment."
"I'd watch your tone if I were you, Vergil." Ultear warned as she shot him a glare, indicating he touched a nerve.
"So, since he is the only remnant of your mother's name, aside from another Ice Make wizard in the Lamia Scale guild, wouldn't it have made more since to eliminate him from the equation? Or do you still feel some form of attachment to the woman you once called your mother, and see him as a part of your family."
She shot her crystal ball directly at him, only for it crash into the ground and shatter as he completely disappeared and reappeared behind her.
"None of that is your concern." Ultear muttered in a cold and icy tone that would drive a chill down any hardened warrior's spine, but Vergil wasn't the least bit intimidated.
"Is that why you chose to adopt that young girl Meredy?" Vergil further questioned. Ultear's expression was very livid once he mentioned that name. "To be a better mother than Ur was to you?"
Anger seethed through her body as she motioned for the crystal ball, which she reformed via her Arc of Time magic, to smash at him, but he reduced it to splinters with Yamato as he jumped back. The orb reappeared again behind him and tried to smash into him, only for him to slice through it before. It appeared in front him and was sliced once more, the process repeated a multiple times as Ultear's anger-fuelled face shot daggers at him.
"You watch your mouth! You don't know a damn thing!" She exclaimed as she angrily used her Arc of Time to create dozens duplicates of her crystal ball all around Vergil and sent them all flying to him at once. He simply flicked Yamato and they were all reduced to shattered splinters on the ground.
Vergil rushed to her as she opened a palm and a magic circle appeared there. "I'll reduce that fancy sword of yours to a rusty mess!" She tried to use it, however, he simply slashed Yamato at her; causing her to go flying back. She skidded to a halt on her feet before kneeling down and feeling the wound her her abdomen. There was indeed a cut, nothing fatal but it still hurt.
Ultear looked toward him in shock as she could still see his sword without so much as a hint of rust on it. Her shocked expression was beyond words.
"How… my… my Arc of Time never fails…. You're sword should have…"
"This is no ordinary sword." Vergil began. "This is Yamato, a Devil Arm created and wielded by my father. It has survived unscathed for over two millennium. Your Arc of Time may be effective at any manmade weapon, but not to this." He delivered a roundhouse kick to Ultear's head to knock her unconscious.
Vergil walked over and picked up the unconscious Ultear, throwing her over his shoulder. "However, your Arc of Time may have some use to me." He vanished with her; once his 'guest' now his captive.
Lady was growing more irritated by the second. She gunned down two more black knights with her dual pistols, but it felt like every time she was done with one, two more came in its place. She impaled another with the blade on her rocket-launcher before shooting and blasting a rocket through that black knight and destroying another group.
"Where the hell are these guys coming from?!" She gazed upward towards Belphegor siting idly on his throne just watching. That's when it came to her.
"You!" Lady shouted to him. "You're summoning them! They're little puppets, aren't they?!"
"You only just figured that out?" Belphegor questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, I summoned them. I use Legion Magic, it lets me summon a bunch of drones to fight. Why should I fight when others can do it for me?"
"How about I drag your ass off that chair and I make you!" Lady was about to shoot him when Asmodeua suddenly appeared in front of her.
"Arachnid's Web!" She shot both her hands out and had shot out long strands of spider-web, which ensnared Lady's rocket launcher, which she threw away.
"How about I take her, Belphegor?" Asmodeua proposed. "Seeing as how all you wanna do is just sit down and your puppets are only making her mad."
"Go nuts." Belphegor waved off.
"Good." Amsoduea smiled lustfully. "You know Mary, you're a really beautiful woman. All but perfct for my collection, a shame your father needs you though for some unknown reason."
"Tell me he can go screw himself! Cause I'm not going with him!" She pulled out her pistol and shot at her, but she quickly and gracefully dodged all her shots and jumped on a rock before jumping down toward her, landing a kick in her abs to knock her down.
"Oooh, you got a lot of spirit in ya. I look forward to breaking it." She lunged at her with her nails glowing green once more.
Meanwhile; Mira and Leviatha continued their clash in the air as both Satan Souls duked it out. They exchanged blows as dark blue energy covered Mira's fists while dark green covered Leviatha's fists. They clashed in mid-air a couple times before Leviatha came in with a knee to Mira's face to knock her back before trying to gain some distance with Leviatha following her.
Mira had to hold back during this fight, though she was her opponent, Leviatha was still only a child. How could a child possess this kind of level in power? How could she end up in a Dark Guild like this? This wasn't right.
"Don't run away from me!" Leviatha shouted. "Darkness Stream!" Multiple dark green energy tendrils shot towards Mira who was still shocked at how Leviatha could effectively copy her spells.
"Demon Blast!" Mira shot a beam of dark energy to blast away the tendrils; but Leviatha flew through the smoke and tackled Mira, sending them both towards the ground where they grappled their hands and pressed against each other.
"Why are you doing this?" Mira questioned.
"Arkham and Vergil want something." Leviatha replied. "Don't know what, don't care. Because I just want to make you suffer! You wanna know why? Because its what you deserve for being friends with that little bitch Wendy!" Leviatha did a cartwheel flip to kick Mira in the jaw and send her realign back.
However before either of them could do anything, Satan came in quickly from behind. "Don't forget about me! Bloody Flame Strike!" He delivered a powerful blood-fire-punch to Mira's back to send her skidding and rolling across the ground.
"I told you I would handle her!" Leviatha shot at him.
"Hey, I wanna a piece of the She-Devil to! Don't get greedy, that's Mammon's thing." Satan told her. "Plus the boss says were on the clock, so he's gonna want this done pronto."
"Fine, lets end it now then." Leviatha stated as they both faced the recovering Mira.
She stood up as Satan was the first to rush forward with both his arms coated in red energy. "Cerberus Fang!" He clapped his hands together and a giant red dog-like beast made of energy appeared from his hands and shot to Mira. She tried to block it as it bit down onto her side; once it did it exploded in a massive surge of blood-red energy; blasting her rather far back.
Mira fell to her knees and tried to catch her breath, as that attack was quite powerful. She felt almost completely drained, but still had enough to keep up her Satan Soul form. That is until Leviatha appeared in front of her and prepared a powerful attack that Mira was all too familiar with.
"No…. it… it couldn't be…"
Leviatha smirked almost evilly. "Soul Extinction."
Mira couldn't feel the irony of her own attack being used against her, as all she could feel now was intense physical pain. A powerful explosion of dark green energy surged around the entire area, it could almost be seen for miles. The bright light even shined on Arkham's face as he continued to look onto the battle with interest.
The attack had vanished, leaving only a crater where Mirajane Strauss, in her normal form, laid unconscious and defeated. Satan and Leviatha approached her form as the latter's appearance turned to normal as well.
"She put up one hell of a fight." Satan said. "I wish we didn't have to rush that. I would have loved to go one-on-one with her for days!"
"Come on, let's just get her tied up and get out of here. Assuming Asmodeua and Belphegor finished up on their end." The two worked to secure their newly established prisoner.
Lady did not miss the light spectacle that occurred a few seconds ago. "Mira." Her attention was diverted to Asmodeua who stood in her way.
"Were not finished with our dance yet." She teased as she ran towards her with Lady shooting both her pistols at her, but Asmodeua was quick to dodge each bullet as she swerved toward her and knocked both pistols out of Lady's hands with a single swipe. Lady tried to throw a punch, but Asmodeua caught her fist. What she did next was something completely unexpected.
She pulled Lady in and kissed her on the lips.
Lady's eyes widened with shock before she pushed Asmodeua off her. "What the hell is wrong with you!? Why did… you…" Suddenly Lady's vision began to get blurry as she felt very light headed.
"Awe, are you feeling tired, sweety?" Asmodeua teased.
"What… what did you… do to me…" Lady found it difficult to stand as she lost all feeling in her legs and fell down.
"My Venom Kiss." Asmodeua began to explain as she walked around the down Lady. "You've been infected with a paralyzing poison. Don't worry, it's not fatal, you just won't be able to move for a couple hours."
Her arms were starting to go numb as well as Lady couldn't even feel her face to speak. Asmodeua suddenly pushed her on the ground face-up, where the dark wizard dominatrix slowly crawled on top of Lady and held her wrists while her face was less than an inch from Lady's.
"You really are a beautiful woman." Asmodeua lulled. "If your dad didn't want you, we could have so much fun" She sighed. "But, it doesn't look like it. However, I hope the rest of Fairy Tail comes for you, because that has some very attractive women whom I can really have some fun with." She actually leaned in close and licked Lady's cheek while all she could do was just glare.
"Now come along little Mary. Daddy's waiting for you." Leviatha picked her up and threw her over her shoulder before walking to join her comrades who had just finished securing Mira.
Two Hell-Vanguards were tossed out the entrance of the Fairy Tail guild hall before each was shot in the head by Dante who stood in the entrance. He gazed behind to see pretty much the whole guildhall in shambles; the corpses of multiple Hell-Vanguards decorated all over the floor and on most of the walls. Forutnatley, none of his comrades were killed, a few serious injuries, but nothing fatal.
"Is that all of them?" Grey wondered as he shattered a frozen demon.
Erza had impaled the chest of one Hell-Vanguard with a sword to make sure it was dead. "Yes, that is all."
Trish looked around at the destruction. "Damn, the old man's not gonna be happy about this."
"Forget the guild hall, that creepy bald guy just kidnapped my sister and Lady!" Elfman exclaimed as she frustratingly slammed his fist on a nearby table, destroying it in the process. "Where did that bastard go! When I get a piece of him…!"
Wendy had saw Dante walk back inside and she quickly ran up to him. "Dante, that man we just saw…. Was that really Lady's father?"
Dante grimaced as he nodded. "Yeah he was."
While most of the wizards were either making sure the demons were dead or helping another wounded comrade; Trish, Erza, Carla, Grey, and Modeus walked towards Dante.
"That was her dad?" Grey questioned again.
"Do I need to repeat myself, yeah that was him." Dante confirmed.
"Dante, who is he?" Erza asked.
"His name is Arkham, and it's a long story." Dante began. "Lady was gonna tell all of you about it, but he beat us to the punch."
"Dante, these were Hell-Vanguards that attacked us." Modeus said. "Do you believe Arkham to be a part of Devil Hand?"
The red-coat wearing Devil Hunter kicked the dismantled skull of one dead Vanguard. "Wouldn't put it past him."
"He also said this attack was a message from your brother." Carla also noted. "That being said, I think it is all but confirmed that Vergil is a part of Devil Hand as well."
"Yeah."
Pretty much everyone in the group grimaced at the thought of that. "Vergil." Grey muttered. "I was not looking forward to seeing him again."
"Still, we only knew it was a matter of time." Erza relented, though she felt the same way as he was enough make even her weary.
"But why grab my sister?!" Elfman walked into the conversation. "Devil Hand was after Lisanna, but now Mira?! Why are those unmanly demons trying to get my sisters!?"
"You got me." Trish responded. "Maybe the same reason they wanted that Angel girl?"
"Could Angel be connected to your family Elfman?" Modeus asked him.
"I have no idea." Elfman said honestly. "I barley remember my own parents, and I know we didn't have any aunts or uncles."
"Wait a minute…" Wendy began to think. "Where is Lisanna? I haven't seen her all day?"
That got everyone's attention. Dante was a bit surprised, but now that he thought of it, he only realized something just now. The lack of fire-damage in the building.
"Where's Natsu?"
"Happy said they were going on a job." Grey answered. "Probably took Lucy and Lisanna to since they're not here."
"Oh no…" Wendy's face began to radiant with worry. "You don't think Devil Hand went after them do you?!"
Carla's eyes widened. "Or worse…. Vergil!"
That was a thought the group did not like one bit, particularly Elfman. "What are we waiting for!? We gotta man up and save our friends!" Elfman was about to run out but Dante stopped him.
"Dude, do you got any idea where to go?! And even if you did, this is Vergil were talking about! He'll eat you for breakfast!"
"I don't care!" Elfman exclaimed. "My big sister was kidnapped I'm not loosing my little sister to! Not again!"
Modeus grabbed Elfman's arm. "Elfman, I can understand your concern, believe me, I do. But we have no idea where they could have gone. And we have no means to find or contact them, we just be going in blindly."
"Modeus is right." Erza agreed. "We're also completely in the dark in regards Devil Hand's ranks; we don't know what other demons or wizards they may have, or what abilities they posses. Rushing into something like that will always end in disaster."
Wendy looked down slightly, her thoughts on Leviatha once more. Modeus and Carla both looked toward Wendy knowing exactly what she was thinking. Dante meanwhile glared outward to the horizon. Frustration grew as his friends were in danger, at the hands of his brother again, and they had no idea how to respond.
"Vergil, what the hell do you want this time?"
Vergil walked into the caverns that was the temporary base for Devil Hand, that which laid past the ruined entrance where he and Arkham previously scouted before forming their guild. And he was not alone. He carried Ultear over his shoulder as she was completely tied up. Her hands were tied behind her back, with more rope around her body to bind her arms to her sides, her ankles were tied together and she had a thick cloth over her mouth. She also bore a collar with tiny magic sealing stones inside it to prevent her from using her magic.
As he walked into the main cavern; the two groups he recently dispatched joined him. Iblis led Mammon and Beelezub, with their leader carrying the tied and gagged Angel over her shoulder. On the other end; Satan, Belphegor, Asmodeua, and Leviatha came in with their respective captives as well; Satan carried Mira was tied and gagged just like the rest of them, while Lady was bound in webbing the same way, despite still being paralyzed, Asmodeua saw fit to bind and gag her just for good messaure.
"I see we have acquired our intended targets." Vergil noted to his guild.
"Did you expect less from us, Master Vergil?" Iblis asked with a bow and a prideful tone in her voice.
"This one put up a fight, but we got her." Satan said as he threw Mira to the ground towards Vergil's feet. She groaned underneath her gag as she looked up; her eyes shrunk in fear at the sight of Vergil. Angel was thrown to his feet as well, same with Lady. Angel's fear had not wavered in the slightest since her capture, while Lady glared daggers at Vergil wanting nothing more than to beat the crap out of him.
Vergil looked at Lady curiously. "I did not request for her."
"Arkham said he wanted her." Asmodeua said with a shrug. "Guess Daddy misses his little girl."
A note of suspicion entered Vergil's eyes as Mammon spoke next. "Uh boss, I don't wanna sound like a wet blanket, but where's your catch?"
"I agree." Asmodeua added. "We have the ravishing miss Mirajane now in our possession, I was so hopping to see her adorable little sister."
The bound Mira glared daggers at the woman, not liking the way she spoke about her younger sister.
"Unfortunately, Lisanna Strauss is no longer an option." Vergil stated, getting everyone's attention, including both Mira and Lady's. "She has been infected with Dragon magic. Should her blood be used in the ritual, it could ultimately destroy the tower."
"So what she's got dragon powers now?" Leviatha questioned.
"I hope so! Who else wants to fight a freaking dragon?!" Satan said excitedly.
"She's not an actual dragon you idiot." Belphegor said in a bored tone.
"So, what do we do?" Beelzebub asked. "We're short one."
"This is why we have Ultear." He placed her on the ground on her knees. By now she had regained consciousness as she glared at the dark wizards surrounding her. "Leviatha, you will use your magical drain to copy her Arc of Time magic. Use it on the seal once its activated, accelerate the time around it so that it may weaken and nothing else can block it. Should the blood from these two will not be enough." He said, referring to Mira and Angel.
Leviatha nodded. "I understand." Though it made her a bit nervous. To copy a lost magic? While she was able to copy Wendy's Dragon Slayer magic and that was also considered a lost magic, something like the Arc of Time sounded a bit overwhelming. But she was confident she could do it.
"Master Virgil, I have a question." Iblis began. "Why do we need all of these girls? Why not just one? I can understand that you may want an extra just in case, seeing as how they share a common ancestor: the same mortal priestess whom your father sacrificed to seal the tower underground, but do we need to use the blood from all of them? And for that matter, I understand that there is also a Strauss brother, why not have him as well?"
Mira looked in surprise. She, Elfman, and Mira shared a common ancestor with Angel? The aforementioned former dark wizard was just as surprised to.
"I do not require Elfman Strauss because he is male." Vergil replied. "The ritual to undo the enchantment requires the blood of a virgin female. And while it does make sense that we would only aquire one, I do not want any loose ends; it has been over 2,000 years and I would prefer to be through."
"Okay, one quick question." Mammon said. "The priestess your old man sacrificed was a virgin? So how could she have descendants if she couldn't have kids?"
"She probably had siblings and they had children." Beelzeub told him.
"Oh. Never mind then."
"So, am I correct to assume we have everything we need then?" Iblis asked.
"Indeed we do." Vergil confirmed. He then noticed someone missing from the group. "Where is Arkham?"
"Said he had something to do." Belphegor responded with a shrug.
Vergil raised an eyebrow but paid it no mind. "Then let us begin."
Lisanna groaned as she tried to push the rocks off her. A large majority of them were removed from her and a hand was offered to her. She looked up to see it was Lucy offering her hand with a smile, Lisanna smiled back as she took it and was pulled out of the rocks.
"Thanks Lucy."
"Sure, you okay?"
"A little bruised, but alright." Lisanna answered as she rolled a sore shoulder. "Where's Natsu?"
"Happy took him to see if they could try and find Vergil." Lucy replied.
"I see… so… that was Vergil?" Lisanna asked.
"Yeah." Lucy confirmed.
The white-haired girl sighed. "I can see why no one around Fairy Tail talked about him. He's super scary."
"Trust me, you haven't even seen the worse parts yet." Lucy warned.
"Well after seeing him in person now, and you guys saying how he took down my sister and Erza, I believe you." Lisanna nodded.
"Hey guys! Over here!" Happy called to them as he set down with Natsu.
"Did you find anything?" Lucy asked.
"Nada, couldn't even pick up his scent." The Fire Dragon Slayer growled. But his look softened a bit. "You okay Lisanna?"
"I'm fine, what about you, are you alright Natsu?" She asked with concern.
"I've had worse." He said.
"I don't get it though." Happy spoke up. "Vergil's Devil Hand's master, and he was here to kidnap Lisanna. But he didn't take you. Why?"
Lisanna looked just as confused. "He saw my Dragon Take Over, and said I wasn't of any use to him."
"That's odd." Happy said.
"No kidding." Lucy agreed. "Hey, maybe its because Dragon Slayer Magic and Demonic energies don't mix very well."
"What do you mean?" Natsu asked.
"I mean, we did learn that the Dragons helped Sparda fight off Mundus and the demons two thousand years ago." Lucy explained. "The Demon-Dragon war, maybe that had something to do with it."
"But if Dragon and Demon powers don't mix; then how could Dante perform Unison Raids with both Natsu and Wendy?" Happy asked.
"And I ate that demon fire back when we first met Vergil." Natsu added. "That stuff tasted all kinds of nasty, but I ended up in Dragon Force right after that."
"I don't know, none of this makes any sense." Lucy said. "But were still glad he didn't take you Lisanna."
"Thanks." She said with a smile before turning serious. "We should probably head back to Fairy Tail, I think Dante and the others might want to hear about this."
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Happy agreed.
"Then let's go!" Natsu announced. The group was about to head off until…
"Yoo hoo!"
The group turned around to see someone who wasn't there before. A man dressed completely in purple suit identical to that of a court jester, with a white face, long nose, a blue right eye and red left eye, with purple lips. He carried a cane in his hand as well.
"You may not have time to run back to your little guildhall, kiddies." The individual said in a cheery demeanor. "Not with what the big bad Vergil's got planned."
"Whoa! A clown!" Happy exclaimed in surprise while Natsu, Lucy, and Lisanna just looked a bit confused.
The 'clown' gave an audible gasp. "Now that's offensive! Clowns have no sense of style! But us court jesters, our work is an art form!"
"Who the heck are you?" Natsu questioned. "You with Devil Hand to?"
The purple-clad man came up behind Natsu and grabbed his shoulders. "Just a guy who knows the ins-and-outs of dark places." He came up behind Lucy and Lisanna. "A pal who can guide you through all the haunted houses of the world." Both girls had chills down their spines as Jester appeared in front of Happy's face. "And someone who is NOT A CLOWN!" He shouted in booming anger before reassuming his creepy smile. "You got that kitty cat."
"Aye sir! You're not a clown sir! Just a really creepy guy dressed in purple sir!" Happy shouted in comic fright.
"Thank you." Suddenly he was grabbed by the shirt and pulled directly into Natsu's face.
"Quit your games and start talking!" Natsu began with a flame in his hand. "Who are you?! What do you know about Vergil and Devil Hand?! And why are you dressed like that?! Answer me or I'll burn you to a crisp!"
"That could be a problem." He slowly pried Natsu's hand off his shirt. "No need to be so violent, dragon boy. I'll tell you everything you want to know, if you could take a chill pill."
Natsu calmed down a bit but still kept his glare as he, Lucy, Lisanna, and Happy gave him their full-undivided attention.
"My name is Jester." He greeted with a bow. "And I know a thing or two about what Dante's 'evil twin' is up to."
"You know about Dante?" Lucy asked.
"Ha! Who hasn't heard of the youngest Son of Sparda?" Jester questioned. "The red-coat Devil Hunter! The demon who lives with the fairies! The man with a psycho twin who's been trying to kill him for who-knows-how-long!" He gave a laugh. "Yoza, that's a mouthful!"
"Ahem!" Lisanna coughed to get his attention. "Uh… about Vergil?"
"Oh right." Jester got to the point. "Your old pal Vergil didn't take his defeat from Fairy Tail too well, so instead he tried to even the odds and formed his own guild: Devil Hand! Comprised, mostly of demons, but his top elite, are in fact human." That got the group's attention as Jester continued to explain while performing some form of dance steps.
"Seven humans, seven wizards, each with their own unique set of magic and powers. He calls them, the Seven Sins! And they each represent one of the Seven Deadly Sins of humanity."
"Pride!" Jester shouted while taking a large and prideful stance, arms at his hips. "Envy!" He cowered to the ground and tried to cover his face. "Wrath!" He said in anger while shaking his cane as if he were strangling something. "Lust." He came close to Lucy's legs and tried to run his fingers down them, only for her to scream and kick him away, but he slowly tried to get up. "Sllloooootttthhhh." He said very slowly as he looked to be standing up in slow motion. "Greed!" He held a bag of jewels and gold and kept it close to himself. "And Gluttony." He actually ate and swallowed the bag whole before burping.
"So… wait… Vergil formed his own guild…just to get even with Fairy Tail?" Lisanna asked in confusion. "But why did he want me? Or Angel from the Oracion Seis?"
"Up, up, up, up!" Jester quickly came up and covered Lisanna's mouth with his hand. "I didn't say he formed it just to take down Fairy Tail." Natsu shoved Jester off Lisanna as he continued. "Vergil gathered seven specific wizards because they specifically could fit the categories of their specific sins! Specifically! And its for the same reason he wanted you ladies. He's up to something. Something big! Something massive! Something so unbearably large that not even the MAGIC COUNCIL WOULD SEE COMING!" He shouted as he laughed loud and maniacally.
The group just looked in surprise and confusion. "What?!" Lucy questioned him. "What is this 'something'?! What does Vergil want?! What is he trying to do?!"
Vergil held a knife as both the bound and gagged Mira and Angel were held back, their tied hands held outward by Satan and Mammon respectively. He slowly placed the blade on Mira's hand and made a cut, causing her to moan a bit in pain under the cloth around her mouth. The blood from the cut dripped into a black and red-jeweled goblet he held in the other hand before he repeated the process with Angel until he got what he needed from her. He nodded to both his comrades as Satan took Mira and Mammon took Angel.
The seven members of the Seven Sins stood in a large perfect circle with Iblis at the top, on her right was Satan, holding the bound Mira; on his right was Belphegor; on his right stood Leviatha with the tied and gagged Ultear right next to her; on her right was Asmodeua; next to her on her right was Beelezub with the bound and gagged Lady next to him; followed by Mammon who kept a firm grip on Angel.
Vergil stood at the very center of the chamber as he spilled the blood from the goblet onto the ground in front of him. The moment it made contact with the ground it actually took the form of a small magic seal.
"Begin." Vergil said as each of the seven Sins around kneeled (even the lazy elphegor got off his hovering throne and kneeled) and began to channel their own magic energy. A black magic circle appeared under Iblis, a blood red one under Satan, a dark blue one under Belphegor, a dark green one under Leviatha, a yellowish-green one formed under Asmodeua, a grey one formed under Beelzeub, and a bright gold one appeared under Mammon.
Vergil began to make a chant. "Two thousand years ago this seal was made to contain the medium between Earthland and the Underworld. It is now through the same process that I break it. I call upon the Seven Deadly Sins of man: Pride, Wrath, Sloth, Envy, Lust, Gluttony, and Greed." Beams of energy traveled from each of the magic circles and shot directly toward the small circle of blood which had a dark black energy from around the red streaks of blood as Vergil slowly unsheathed Yamato.
"And now, with the very blade used to originally seal a gate to the Underworld long ago, the blood of the priestess sacrificed to contain this force of nature, I… RELEASE!" He shot the blade into the ground, into the magic circle. Dark blue energy cracks formed all over the ground as the entire cavern began to shake.
This was her cue. Leviatha raised one hand, while keeping a firm grim on Ultear's shoulder and outstretched her open palm. A magic circle formed in her hand. Ultear could only look in shock as she recognized the pattern.
"The Arc of Time?! She copied my magic?!"
Leviatha quickly speed up the time around the seal as it was now revealed. Years passed by in seconds; decades; perhaps even centuries. All this flow of demonic energy seemed to somehow add to and strengthen the Arc of Time spell, accelerating the time around the seal far more than even Ultear could have pushed it. It was working!
"I CALL UPON THEE TO RISE AGAIN!" Vergil shouted. "BY YOUR NAME I SUMMON YOU! TEMEN-NI-GRU!"
The ground underneath everyone completely shattered to the large surge of dark blue demonic energy.
It seemed like a normal valley. No cities around for miles not even any animal life. Just a wide-open barren valley with nothing around. That is until the ground began to shake and suddenly a massive structure tore through the ground and shot straight up into the sky.
A massive cylindrical-shaped monolithic structure quickly shot up from the ground; creating a massive tremor that could be felt for miles around. It bore the appearance of an ancient structure, built by individuals who hadn't been seen in millennium.
The shaking enough was able to get the attention of every citizen in Magnolia, including those in the Fairy Tail guild as Dane, Erza, Grey, Wendy, Carla, Modeus, Trish, and many others from the entrance and along the rooftop saw the tower rising; their mouths agape and their eyes wide in absolute shock, even Dante was more than surprised to see something like this.
Natsu, Lucy, Lisanna, and Happy saw this as well. In fact they were probably the closest; at least ten miles away, the tremors were enough to knock them onto the ground as their eyes almost bulged out completely.
The tower continued to rise until it came to a stop, to the point where the top was right at the clouds. Vergil stood on the summit, his robe blowing in the wind as he held Yamato almost gracefully. It was done. The seal had been broken and Temen-ni-gru had risen.
Natsu and all his friends were completely speechless. In fact the only one who even said anything was their newfound 'aquintance'.
"BINGO!" Jester shouted, as they suddenly turned to him, their shocked looks apparently glued their faces. "That is what the 'something' is! And with that, my time is up. So I'll see you kiddies latter!"
He tossed something on the ground and vanished in a puff of purple smoke complete with confetti.
It was silent with them for a few seconds before Happy finally shouted. "A HUGE TOWER JUST SHOT UP FROM THE GROUND!" His eyes being white circles.
"What…. The…. Hell… is…. That?" Lucy stuttered as she struggled to stand back up.
"Wow…. That's… big…" Lisanna stuttered as well.
Natsu surprisingly didn't say anything, as he stood straight up. "Well, lets get going."
"Going? Going where?" Lucy questioned.
He turned around with a 'duh' expression on his face. "Obviously, to the giant tower that we're gonna destroy."
The three looked in comic shock at that statement. "You're kidding, right Natsu?" Lucy questioned. "I mean do you see the size of that thing!?"
"Come on I smashed the Tower of Heaven and we all smashed Nirvana to a while back, remember?" Natsu reminded. "Those were all pretty big."
"Uh Natsu… I think that thing is a lot bigger." Happy said. It was true; this tower easily dwarfed the Tower of Heaven and even Nirvana.
"I am going to have to agree with them on this one, Natsu." Lisanna said. "Plus, Vergil's likely there."
"Duh, of course he is, that's why were going." He replied.
They could not believe what he just said. "What?! you seriously wanna fight Vergil again?! After the way he completely destroyed you?!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Well it ain't gonna be just us!" Natsu exclaimed, much to their confusion. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure everyone in Fiore saw that thing." Natsu gestured to the massive tower. "That includes all of Fairy Tail. Dante's smart enough to guess that Devil Hand may be behind it so he and the rest of the guild are probably on their way there right now. We'll meet up with them and take out Devil Hand together."
Lucy, Happy, and Lisanna just had blank faces for a few seconds. "That…." Lucy began. "Is… actually a very good idea…"
"Yeah… he's right." Happy added. "Fairy Tail defiantly saw that thing come up, so they're gonna want to check it out to."
Lisanna nodded and continued. "So we'll meet up with everyone there, we'll tell them what we know about Vergil, and we'll stop Devil Hand!"
"Exactly!" Natsu said with a grin.
"Natsu, you are a genius!" Happy shouted with a smile. "I never actually thought I'd say that."
"Come on, you think I'm just some mindless pyro who blows up everything I see?" Natsu questioned. "I do have a brain up here." He pointed to his head.
"Even though you don't use it too often." Lucy joked slightly. Causing the group, even Natsu to laugh.
"So what do you guys say? Wanna kick some demon ass?" Natsu proposed with an eager grin.
Each of them bore their own confident grin.
"Aye sir!" Happy agreed.
"I'm with you Natsu!" Lisanna put in.
"Me to, let's give Vergil and his new pals a piece of our mind!" Lucy was ready.
"Aw yeah, I'm fired up now!" Natsu pumped his fist as he ran towards Temen-ni-gru with his friends close behind. "Ready or not Vergil, here we come!"
Back in Magnolia; the entire town was outside as every man, woman, and child looked at the massive tower that just appeared out of nowhere. Citizens talked amongst themselves wondering what was going on, some even questioning if Fairy Tail was behind it.
Speaking of Fairy Tail; Dante stood outside with Erza, Grey, Trish, Modeus, Wendy, Elfman, and Carla as they looked up at the tower.
Levy was quick to run outside with them. "Yeah, I'm sure you guys just saw that, right?! A huge tower just shot up from the ground!"
"Oh we see it alright." Grey noted.
"What is that…?" Wendy wondered in a timid voice.
"I don't know, but I don't think it is a good thing." Carla said.
"Temen-ni-gru." Modeus said, as everyone looked towards him. "This is bad."
"Modeus, you know what that thing is?" Erza questioned.
"It is certain doom if we do not stop it." He stated.
"You think Vergil and Devil Hand are behind this?" Dante asked.
"Most definitely." Modeus nodded.
"Well then, we better get going." Trish said as she loaded her gun.
"Wait! Hold on!"
This came from Juvia as she ran out to join them along with Gajeel and Lilly flying by her side.
"We're coming with you as well." Juvia stated.
"Yeah you're gonna probably need some extra muscle for this." Gajeel added.
"I would also like to provide my aid." Panther-Lilly added as well. "Despite my current stature, I know there are indeed ways I can help."
"Alright fine." Dante said. "No time to argue, we should get going."
"Agreed." Erza said. "Levy, you will stay here and help the rest of the guild to recover. Once that is all situated, see to the town and make sure it doesn't break into a panic."
"Yeah, okay." Levy nodded in understanding.
"I wanna come to!" Wendy said. Before anyone could oppose she spoke up. "If anyone's injured I can heal them!" Though her eyes said she was serious; Modeus and Carla both knew that if Devil Hand was behind this, Leviatha would be there, and Wendy would want to speak with her. They looked toward each other and nodded thinking it would be best if she stayed with one of them since they probably knew they couldn't stop her from coming.
"I'm coming to." Elfman said. "But what about Lisanna?"
"She probably saw that thing to, along with Natsu and everyone." Grey said. "And knowing that knucklehead, he's probably on his way there right now."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Dante said as he cracked his knuckles. "My bro's got something fun planned for us, lets not disappoint him."
With that Dante led the group consisting of himself, Erza, Elfman, Gajeel, Grey, Modeus, Trish, Juvia, Carla, and Panther-Lilly through Magnolia and straight towards the massive tower known as Temen-ni-gru.
Done.
Wow, this chapter turned out to be longer than I thought. Anyway, Vergil and Arkham's master plan was begun: Temen-ni-gru has risen and Fairy Tail is ready to take the fight straight to Devil Hand and rescue their captive friends.
And Jester has made his grand appearance!
Now, before anyone makes any comments about the ritual Vergil performed, I want to clarify something. The Strauss siblings do indeed share a common ancestor with Angel and Yukino, making them distant relatives. Their ancestor was a human priestess that Sparda sacrificed to seal Temen-ni-gru underground. And before you all say anything; YES! I know that Lady also bares the blood of another priestess, but that is the twist in my story (for all those familiar with the Devil May Cry 3 game).
Small spoilers (just to avoid confusion)
In my Fairy May Cry series; Sparda actually sacrificed two mortal priestesses. One to deactivate the power of Temen-ni-gru and seal the portal to the Demon World (which is seen in the Lair of Judgement level in DMC3), who was Lady's ancestor; the second one, whom the Strauss siblings and Angel and Yukino are descended from, was sacrificed to seal the tower itself underground.
Does that make sense to you all? (If not, send me a PM and I will explain it to you).
Vergil and Devil Hand may know about the Strauss' ancestor being a priestess (hence why they were after Lisanna, Mira, and Angel in the first place) BUT maybe not the connection with Lady; to Vergil, Arkham just may have some father-daughter issues which he considers beneath him (and that's what Arkham exactly wants *evil laugh*)
Note: Before any hardcore Fairy Tail fans can make a complaint on Ultear's brief fight with Vergil, on how it seemed she went down too easily; lets look at Vergil himself. He is not a foe who likes to waste time. Rather than drag out the fight, he knew what buttons to push with her to make her sloppy and get the right hits in. Plus, his Devil Arm Yamato is immune to the Arc of Time so her magic can't work on it (it's been imbued with demonic magics; why do you think it and Rebellion lasted for over 2,000 years without even so much as a stain of rust on either of them?).
Fairy Tail and Devil Hand clash in an all-out-war in the chambers of Temen-ni-gru in the next chapter! Who will prevail? Find out next time on Fairy May Cry!