I apologize for being that "pre-chapter author's note" guy. However, I had to say this here so you'll know immediately. for those of you who are wondering, I didn't have Chromostone release the energy he absorbed from the Jupiter canon, because I wanted to show him growing as a character. He had to regain their trust after that Jupiter transformation. He terrified the Fairy Tail members. He had to show that he was willing to die to protect the guild. also, as the energy was too much(as I described)... let's say that his version of Chromostone has a limit to what he can absorb and fire back safely like Captain Atom from JLU.
Episode 9: The Might of the Take-Over
Soron opened his eyes just in time to see the ground getting closer fast, and without thinking he turned the dial of his megatrix and slapped it down. Before he could go splat, he was enveloped in golden light. As soon as the light had ebbed, he was in his Martian form. He looked down at his right fist, around at his surroundings, and then back up towards where he fell. He immediately took to the air, went intangible, and flew towards where he believed Sol to be.
He phased out of the floor behind Sol who was looking for his body. Soron became tangible again and walked towards the wizard.
"I cannot see him," Sol was saying to himself, "how is this possible? I hit him hard enough to render him unconscious."
"You might want to hit harder next time," said Soron behind him. Sol immediately jumped out of surprise and whirled around to see Soron. However, as soon as Soron grabbed him he heard something whistling towards him. He quickly went intangible. That caused a stone spear to impale Sol only.
"No…" Sol said as he coughed out his blood, "not possible… how could I, a member of the element four, be defeated?"
At that, Sol fell out of the hole and towards the ground below. Nothing could stop the fall now, as he was too weak to do anything. Soron just stared down at him from the hole as the wizard went splat on the pavement.
Good riddance, Soron thought coldly.
With the Fairy Tailers…
Cana stared at the building in relief as the forbidden curse had slowed down due to the efforts of the wizards at the PL castle. She was also relieved that that medic guy showed up and helped Soron.
"Thank goodness," Cana said with a smile, "whatever they're doing is working."
Suddenly, she collapsed to her knees as exhaustion took over, and that alerted Macao to her situation.
"Cana!" Macao exclaimed.
"Don't worry about me!" Cana said sternly, "Just focus on the enemy! We have to protect Fairy Tail!"
"You don't know the word quit, do ya?" Macao asked with a grin before he had to suddenly dodge an attack from one of the PL ghosts. Both of them attacked the PL ghosts in retaliation, and then they had another portion of respite.
"Listen up!" Cana shouted to some of the other Fairy Tailers, "If we're gonna beat these creeps, we gotta cover more ground!"
"Alright!" shouted some of them as they punched a fist into the air.
I don't know what it is about our guild, but our ladies are ridiculously strong, thought Macao.
Meanwhile, with Natsu…
Natsu ran down a hallway, similar to the one Soron had encountered Sol, while Happy flew alongside him. Natsu's face had an excited grin.
"Hey!" Natsu grinned, "I just thought of something awesome, Happy!"
"What is it?" Happy asked.
"If we beat Jose, I bet it'll finally put an end to all this crazy fighting!" Natsu said which caused Happy to fall to the ground. However, he quickly got back up into the air and next to Natsu.
"Are you completely out of your mind?!" Happy exclaimed, "That guy's just as strong as Master Makarov! There's no way you can beat him!"
"Well, Gramps is out of commission," Natsu said grumpily, "so it'll have to be up to somebody else to beat that jerk."
"Well, Soron can!" Happy said brightly, "He's our strongest member!"
"Come on," Natsu said with a grin.
"Aye!" Happy replied. At that, they hurried down the hallway.
Eventually, they reached a room but as soon as they got halfway to some stairs, a blast of wind knocked Natsu off his feet and Happy out of the air. As soon as they stood up, they saw some guy in what could be a long coat standing in their way.
"How sad," said the guy, "I will make your wings of fire wither and fall. And all that will remain is a dragon's corpse."
"Say what?!" Natsu exclaimed offended.
"Watch out," Happy said nervously, "this guy's one of the element four."
"My name is Aria," said the man as he looked up revealing his eyes were covered in a bandage and he was leaking tears, "I am the strongest of the element four. I come in hopes of hunting a dragon."
"Let me guess," Natsu said with a scowl, "you're a wind wizard, right? I dealt with your kind before."
"Yeah," Happy said unsure, "but this guy's a lot stronger than Erigor."
Meanwhile, with Soron…
Soron had reverted to his human form to allow his megatrix to recharge as every second is important in battle. After Sol perished, Soron tried to rationalize that Sol killed himself. However, that didn't stop himself from feeling guilty. He could've made Sol intangible too, but he didn't. And then, after Sol died Soron had such a cold-hearted thought. He had stopped himself from killing Sol outright and even stopped himself from killing Vilgax. However, each time his opponent had died.
Soron was so in thought that he didn't realize when it began to rain. That's strange because there had been no indication of rain.
"Drip drip drop," said a female voice from behind him. That brought him out of his thoughts and caused him to see the rain. He then realized that he had somehow made it outside and onto one of the arms of the moving castle.
"Hello," said the voice attracting Soron's attention, "We meet again."
"Oh great," Soron said sarcastically, "You."
"I must say," said the woman as she came to a stop in front of him, "I'm impressed that your team has been able to take down two of the elements."
"The french baboon?" Soron asked with a shrug, "Eh, he was a piece of candy. Hard and- oh no. No, not going there. I'm guessing you're one of those elephant people?"
"Elephant people?" Juvia asked confused, "what are elephants?"
"Element," Soron corrected himself, "Sorry, I think Natsu has been rubbing off on me… and that sounded better in my head. Dammit!"
"In any case," said Juvia, "you must not underestimate me and the only other Element left standing."
"Listen aqua-girl," Soron sighed, "I'm honestly a bit tired, and I'd rather not hit a woman if I can help it."
"However," Soron added with a serious tone, "if I have no other choice, I will take you down."
After a while of them staring at one another, her face suddenly went pink.
"Well then," Juvia said as she turned around and began to walk off, "I give up. You win. Goodbye."
"What the…" Soron said surprised as he blinked twice, "That is the weirdest woman I've ever met."
"Oi!" Soron shouted, "What are you doing?! You came to fight and now you're leaving?! Are you insane?!"
That stopped Juvia, and the rain came down harder. She turned to look at Soron with a glare before she whooshed at Soron… quite literally.
"Oh shit!" Soron exclaimed as he slipped and fell onto his back. Before she arrived, Soron managed to turn the dial of his megatrix to an alien. However, before he could slap down on it the woman had him pinned.
"You dare call me insane!" Juvia shrieked, "I should drown you for that!"
"Instead," Juvia said as her mood changed and the rain lessened, "I'll kiss you instead."
She bent down to kiss Soron on the lips, but before her lips could touch his a golden light flashed. As soon as the light ebbed, Soron was no longer there. Instead, a predatory face with a fish's light lure extending from his forehead was looking at her.
"Aah!" Juvia cried out as she backed up quickly.
"What's the matter?" Soron asked in a raspy voice. He then looked down and groaned.
"Oh man!" Soron sighed, "I got Ripjaws instead of Heatblast or Swampfire. Why is it that they never pop up whenever I'm fighting her?"
"You're repulsive!" Juvia shrieked.
"And yet," said Juvia in a horny voice, "extremely attractive."
"You've got some issues lady," Ripjaws said baffled by her sudden changes in mood. He then slapped his megatrix and again he was engulfed in a golden light. When the light had ebbed, Ripjaws was replaced by a big red alien with four arms, he-man-like chest armor, four golden eyes, and a ponytail.
"Four Arms!" Soron shouted.
"Seriously?!" Soron said as he looked down at himself, "This form is even worse for dealing with water-based villains than Ripjaws!"
He then looked back up at Juvia and stood there waiting.
"I will never be your boy toy," Four Arms said when Juvia didn't do anything, "So, you may as well fight me. You just leaving makes me want to fight you, besides… in this form, I have no issue with fighting women. Tetramands love battle after all. Of course, you can just tell me how to stop the spell the castle is making."
"Water lock!" screamed Juvia causing a sphere of water to entrap Soron. That caused Soron to choke due to the sudden water gushing into his mouth. Soron could only think of one thing that could save him, but he couldn't move at all. Suddenly, the sphere turned to ice and shattered which allowed Soron to drop to the wall below. He looked up to see Grey Fullbuster with an ice sword that quickly shattered.
"Get out of here, Soron," Grey said without looking at the shape-shifter, "I've got the water witch."
"Thanks, Grey," Soron said after he had gotten all of the water out of his lungs, "Also, don't bother talking with this lady. She's nuts."
"Right," Grey nodded. At that, Soron leaped away to get out of the way.
He must be an ice wizard!, thought Juvia as she stared at Grey in awe, He froze my water lock and broke the take-over wizard free! I've never witnessed the power of ice magic! It's beautiful! I'm water and he's ice. We must be bound by fate. I can't believe I've finally found my handsome prince!
"That was a dirty trick you pulled on my friend," Grey said as he suddenly tore his clothes off w/o realizing, "I don't want to fight a girl, but I will if I have to. So, you better surrender. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to hurt ya."
"Ice Make: Lance!" shouted Grey as he thrust out his hands prompting an icy blue mystical circle to appear. Ice lances suddenly sped towards Juvia impaling her. Grey widened his eyes at the fact they didn't harm her at all.
"My body is made entirely of water," Juvia explained, "Surprised? Drip drip drop."
"Yes," Juvia muttered to herself, "I mustn't forget. My love is also my enemy. We're on opposite sides of this war. I have no choice but to attack."
"It seems this is farewell, my prince!" Juvia said loudly as she thrust out her right hand causing a blue mystical circle to appear.
"Soron's right," Grey said as he sweat-dropped, "she is nuts-holy!"
Grey had to quickly duck as she sent curved water blades at him. Fortunately, he was fast enough they missed them. However, they veered upward and attack a portion of the castle above and behind him a bit.
"When given the proper amount of force," Juvia explained, "water is strong enough to rip through steel. Underestimate its powers, and you'll find yourself in a world of pain."
"Ice Make: Battleaxe!" shouted Grey as he swung his right arm. However, the ice ax he had made had uselessly gone through Juvia just like his lances.
"Can't you see that you're just wasting your time?" Juvia said, "Your attacks do not affect my body made of water. None at all. Drip drip drop."
"Now what'll I do?" Grey asked himself irked.
"No matter what you do," Juvia said, "you cannot beat me, but there is one way you and your guild may be spared. All we ask is that you hand over Miss Lucy Heartfilia. Do that, and I will ask our master to call off his attack on Fairy Tail."
"Ah, c'mon," Grey scoffed startling her, "don't give me that crap. You and I both know we're past the point of no return."
"Besides," Grey said with resolve, "Lucy's one of us. I'd rather give my life than hand her over to you!"
Grey raised an eyebrow when he saw Juvia drop her pink umbrella with a shocked and horrified expression on her face.
"Aaaaah!" Juvia cried, "Oh, the pain! The pain! How can fate be so cruel? My heart feels like it's been shred to bits! It hurts! Oh, it hurts!"
"What's wrong?" Grey asked confused and a little concerned, "Are ya feeling sick or somethin'?"
That prompted Juvia to look up and stare at him with an insane expression.
"She's not worthy of my prince," Juvia said quietly before she shouted, "Lucy Heartfilia cannot be allowed to live!"
Grey just looked baffled at her, and basically, he was thinking "huh?".
Suddenly, Juvia blasted a steaming beam of water at Grey surprising him.
"That burns!" Grey said shocked.
"What's your deal?!" Grey demanded as he looked at the water witch, "and what's your problem with Lucy?!"
Later on…
Grey knelt over Juvia confused as to why Juvia fainted and a little concerned as well. However, his attention was diverted from Juvia when he heard the voices of Elfman and Mirajane.
"So, you took down another of the element four, huh," Elfman said as he looked at Juvia, "but why does she have that creepy grin on her face."
"I don't know," Grey shrugged now that he was standing, "Soron said she was nuts, so maybe that's it."
"Soron, huh," Elfman said, "According to Mirajane, he took out one as well."
"That leaves only one more," Mira said to Grey, "If we can defeat them, I bet that'll stop the abyss-breaker."
"Mira just figured it out!" Elfman said excitedly, "The energy of the element fours is what's powering the giant!"
"We can do this!" Mira said sincerely, "Right guys?"
Grey and Elfman nodded their agreement.
Meanwhile, with Natsu…
Natsu leaned against a wall as he stood panting while staring at Aria the wind wizard.
"You've endured my attacks and you're still standing," Aria said honestly, 'very impressive."
"Yeah!" Natsu shouted as he ran towards his opponent with a flaming fist, "Watch this!"
Natsu's gettin' beat bad. I've never seen anything like this! It's a one-sided fight! Happy was thinking as he watched the battle nervously.
"Let's see how you fare against my air space magic," Aria said as he got into a stance, "this will truly test your power."
"I don't see no air space magic!" shouted Natsu right before he rammed into an invisible wall. That caused him to bounce onto his back.
"An invisible spell?!" exclaimed Happy, "How's he supposed to fight that?!"
Natsu had managed to use his momentum to roll himself onto his feet, and once he had he skidded to a stop.
"You're much stronger than I thought," Aria said impressed, "salamander."
"I could take whatever you dish out!" Natsu said angrily, "Never underestimate the power of a Fairy Tail wizard!"
"I'M ALL FIRED UP NOW," Natsu shouted, "SO LET'S SEE WHAT YOU GOT!"
Meanwhile, with Soron…
Soron had sat down at the edge of one of the limbs to recover some energy both in his person and his watch. However, what caught his attention was that the magic circle was slower than ever.
Interesting, it appears that it's tied to the element four, Soron thought to himself, I took out one, and so did Grey. That means there's at least one more left. At most… two.
"Well," Soron said as he stood up, "I best go find that final element wizard."
He then changed into Krypto-man and blurred away to locate the wizard quicker.
Back with Natsu…
Natsu stood panting once again as Aria stood in the same place he was before. It appears that Natsu hasn't gotten a hit in yet.
"You're still standing after my attack," Aria said in admiration, "Very impressive."
"I'm fired up now," Natsu grinned, "Let's see what you got."
"Careful," Happy warned concerned.
"Airspace: Zetsu!" Aria said causing a purple mystical circle to appear and launch spheres of air at Natsu. Each one hurt him a lot.
Fortunately, that attack didn't knock him out. However, it was very close. All it visibly did was knock Natsu back and force him to skid his feet on the ground.
"He's the strongest wizard in the element four," Happy thought worried with tears forming, "He might be too powerful for Natsu!"
"There's always someone better than you, young dragon slayer," Aria boasted as he 'looked' down at Natsu.
"We'll see about that!" Natsu shouted. He then took a firm stance and proceeded puff out his cheeks far more than should be possible.
"Fire Dragon…" Natsu yelled as he placed his hands over his mouth like a trumpeter would, " Roooaaaar!"
Natsu's strong flame attack was on target, but unfortunately, Aria can teleport. That is what saved him from becoming charcoaled.
"He's gone!" exclaimed Happy and Natsu grew a shocked expression.
"Where'd he go?" Natsu asked nobody in particular as he looked around. Suddenly, Aria appeared behind him. Natsu was only fast enough to look behind him before Aria punched him hard enough to send him flying into a wall. To Happy, it was only a few seconds long, but to Natsu, it felt like a few minutes.
"How disappointi-" began Aria before a black blur rammed into him. He went flying through the air and back onto the stairs.
"Soron!" exclaimed Happy in relief. Standing not far in front of him was Soron in his Krypto-man form.
"Convince Natsu to get out of here," Krypto-man said without looking at the exceed, "This guy's mine."
"Aye sir!" Happy agreed all too quickly.
As Happy flew over to Natsu's dazed form, Soron watched Aria get back to his feet and shake his head. Aria had been a little disoriented as he had landed head first onto the stairs.
"You," said Aria as he 'looked' at Soron, "You managed to send me flying. I must congratulate you on your success. Nobody has ever managed it before."
"I'm taking you down," Soron said as he balled his fists, "I will not let that gigantic spell be completed."
"If that's how it's going to be," Aria said as he got into a stance, "Then I must take you down first."
"Airspace: Zetsu!" Aria shouted which shot air spheres at Soron that knocked him backward and sent him flying into a wall.
"Hmm," Aria said as he cocked his head, "You do not appear to have the same durability as the salamander, and yet you hit very strongly. You are quite the conundrum."
"Yeah," Soron groaned as he pushed himself to his feet, "It's been said."
He then took a step forward intending to blur at Aria again, but instead, he cried out in pain. He looked down and saw that a bone was poking out of his leg. His leg had been broken and twisted.
Son of a bitch, Soron thought to himself as he sat down to fix his leg, I forgot entirely about the fact that Krypto-man is weak to magic.
As soon as he had pushed the bone and twisted his leg back to the normal position, he managed to get himself to his feet. However, the process was extremely painful and so it was all he could do just to stand.
"How do you plan to beat me if you're so easily wounded?" Aria asked intrigued and amused.
"Let me show you," Soron grunted before he slapped the megatrix symbol on his chest. He was enveloped in a flash of golden light once more, and when it ebbed he was replaced by a smelly green being that looked like a plant with a black face with golden eyes and a mouth. He had petals on his head that formed a fiery shape, an had some red and orange petals coming out of his shoulders. He also had petals coming out of his forearms, but those were green.
"Swampfire!" shouted Soron in a nasally voice. He then sighed as his leg began to feel much better. Say what you want about Swampfire, but his healing ability is "the shit."
"That is one nasty smelling take-over," Aria said as he wrinkled his nose.
"At least I'm not constantly streaming tears from my eyes," Swampfire returned.
"So," Aria said without moving from his spot, "What can that form do?"
"This," Soron replied as he threw four fireballs in quick procession at the crying wizard. However, they were quickly diverted by Aria's constant air wall. They bounced to the walls instead. One even hit the wall right above Natsu causing a piece of the wall to break and hit him on the head.
"Natsu!" Happy cried out as the salamander fell unconscious.
"Watch where you're aiming those things?!" Happy shouted at Soron in irritation.
"Is that it?" Aria asked unimpressed. With a frown, Swampfire threw one of his petals at Aria's feet but it was also diverted. Instead, it landed below Happy. Suddenly, vines grew from the ground and wrapped themselves around Happy.
"Come on!" Happy whined, "This is no fair!"
"Sorry!" Swampfire said to the cat before returning his attention to Aria.
How am I going to beat his wind magic? Soron thought to himself as he stared at the wizard. Anything Swampfire does will just bounce off of his evident wind barrier. Krypto-man is weak to magic, so he's a no-go. The only one I can think of that can stand a chance is Terraspin, but he's limited in what he can do. He's also no fun. I got it!
Aria was wondering why Soron was doing just standing there looking at him, but the longer the battle took the higher the chance the Abyss Break spell would be completed. Aria had to look away yet again as a golden flash of light enveloped Soron once again. When he looked back, he saw a small white dwarf-ish looking character with gold eyes, a gold mouth, and what looked like headphones reaching down to his back. He also had the golden megatrix symbol on his chest.
"Echo-Echo!" shouted Soron in a mechanical voice.
"That form…" Aria said with a serious tone, "That's the one that held off Gajeel's attack. An impressive feat, but what can it do against me?"
"Happy," Echo said without looking at the cat who had been freed from the vines as soon as Soron changed to Echo, "You might want to cover your ears."
"Aye sir," Happy said as he covered them with his paws. He had heard about what Echo-Echo could do.
Echo-Echo then screamed at Aria, and Aria just stood there expecting his wind barrier to protect him. However, the wind isn't exactly a force that can stop sound entirely. Echo-Echo's scream rammed into Aria forcing him to plug his ears as his feet skidded on the ground.
"Hmm," Aria said once Echo-Echo stopped screaming, "That form's attack is sound-based… which means my wind barrier is a pointless waste of mana."
"That's right cry baby," Echo-Echo smirked as he crossed his arms, "We're evenly matched now."
"How dare you insult me!" Aria said offended as he cried, "now I have to take you down in one move!"
"To reward you on your successes against me," Aria said no longer crying, "I shall end this with a gift."
"I will allow you to join your master in his suffering," Aria continued as he suddenly vanished. That jolted Natsu to consciousness and gained Soron's full attention.
"Airspace: Drain!" Aria said as soon as he reappeared behind Soron. Suddenly, golden light flared from the floor and around Soron.
"No!" Natsu and Happy exclaimed.
"So sad!" Aria cried, "yes, because any wizard caught in my air space will be completely drained of their powers!"
However, to his surprise, Soron wasn't screaming in pain. He was just staring at the weeping mammoth with his right foot tapping impatiently on the floor and his arms crossed.
No. How can this be? That spell has never failed before! Aria thought to himself in shock that Soron remained unaffected.
"You're done," Echo-Echo said with a bored tone as the light faded, "Good."
He then let out a scream which sent Aria flying up into the air like he would've if Krypto-Man had uppercut him but less powerful. Echo-Echo watched as Aria somehow managed to fall back onto the stairs. It was as if the stairs were magnets and Aria was a magnet of the opposite charge himself.
How does he keep falling on those stairs? Soron asked himself as he raised an eyebrow, There is no way he should've fell towards them based on where I aimed my scream.
Unknown to Soron, Natsu and Happy were thinking similar thoughts.
"How are you immune to that spell?" Aria asked as he stumbled to his feet.
"You were the one who made Makarov ill, weren't you?!" Echo-Echo demanded angrily completely ignoring Aria's question.
"I did say so," Aria said bluntly.
"When did-" Soron began before his brain finally registered what Aria said, "Ohhhh, so you did."
"It is clear that the only magic that I can use against you is my Zetsu," Aria stated as he got into a stance.
"Oh, no you don't," Soron said as he slapped the megatrix symbol, "It's time to go ultimate."
Four prongs protruded out of the disk as he was enveloped in golden light. Once the light had ebbed, in his place was a giant blue robot with big light blue circles on his shoulders, backs of his hands, knees, and some smaller circles on the sides of his head and his feet. On his head was a light blue circle as well. His eyes were golden, and he had a line for a mouth. On his chest were small light blue circles on either, and below his chest was a black line on his stomach to the pelvis. In the middle of his chest was the megatrix symbol with four prongs sticking out of it.
"Ultimate Echo-Echo," UEE stated instead of shouted. He then looked at Aria angrily.
"Airspace: Zetsu!" shouted Aria. Once more Soron was bombarded with air spheres, but unlike before Soron summoned a sound forcefield that blocked them. The air spheres didn't do anything to the field at all.
"Well, now that I'm faced with a more worthy opponent," Aria said as he removed the bandage from his eyes, "I guess it's time I start taking my battles more seriously."
Soron got a good look at his eyes and saw that they were pink. However, when they quickly grew larger as an "X" formed inside them, Soron was more than a little grossed out. However, he didn't say anything as he was in soldier mode.
Meanwhile, outside in the Fairy Tail courtyard…
Erza, Igrao, and the others did their best to fight off the PL ghosts. However, it wasn't going well.
"They need to hurry up," Igrao said as he dodged an attack from a swooping ghost, "I'm running low on mana."
Erza didn't have any time to respond as she had to dodge an attack as well before delivering an attack of her own. As usual, her sword merely passed through the ghost harmlessly.
"What is taking so long?" Erza asked nobody in particular as she looked at the castle and the abyss break spell's circle that suddenly began to glow.
Back with Soron…
UEE stared at Aria and Aria stared back. Neither of them moved for what felt like minutes. However, the silence was broken by Aria.
"Now, take-over wizard," Aria said as he got into a pose, "step into Zero. Airspace of death! It consumes the lives of all who dare to enter!"
The spell blasted wind all about the room, and Happy had to hang on for dear life onto Natsu's scarf. Natsu had gotten up while Aria had taken off his bandage.
"I'm too cute to die!" Happy cried in fear.
"A spell that consumes life…" UEE said in a deeper mechanical voice than normal Echo-Echo as he balled his fists, "Tell me! How can you do this?! How can you just take lives so easily!"
While Soron has taken lives before, that was during the war. He never wanted to kill, but he had been willing to do so. However, each time he did so… it was difficult and felt like he was ripping a piece of his soul out each time. What little soul Soron had left… he was going to use it to honor Ben's memory and become the person his sister saw in him.
"It'd be more fun to show you!" Aria said evilly as his eyes glowed red in the sudden shade they were in.
"Soron!" Natsu shouted as Soron ran straight at Aria with his left fist cocked back.
"Let's see just how well you handle this…" Aria said as he thrust his arms out, "take-over wizard!"
UEE had to dodge each of the projectiles being shot by the wind, and that slowed down a fair amount. However, it wasn't enough to keep himself from launching up into the air.
"But how?!" Aria exclaimed in shock, "My airspace didn't even harm him!"
"No!" Aria exclaimed as UEE sent some disks towards him. The disks formed a field around Aria, but unlike before this wasn't designed for defense.
"Sonic…" UEE said, "Doom!"
Suddenly, Aria was bombarded by sonic waves that bounced back and forth from the small force field. Once the attack was done, Aria fell onto his back wounded immensely from the attack. Soron, on the other hand, landed on the ground with his back to Aria.
"He took him out with one hit!" Happy exclaimed.
"Man, he's one scary guy!" Natsu also exclaimed.
"Someone like you could never hold a candle to the strength of Makarov," Soron said as he looked at Aria in contempt, "You'll be remembered only as a sobbing coward who fell by my hand."
"That's… so sad," Aria sobbed on the ground as he fell to unconsciousness.
Back at the Fairy Tail courtyard…
The FT guild-members were panicking as the circle glowed brighter, but suddenly it vanished entirely and the glowing red eyes in the transforming castle's face became dark.
"What happened?" asked a member.
"Its eyes aren't glowing anymore," remarked another.
They did it, Erza thought with a smile, Good work.
Suddenly, the castle began to shake and one of its arms fell into the ocean below.
Back with Soron…
Soron transformed back to normal and tackled Natsu before he could be crushed by a piece of falling debris that was knocked loose.
"Whoo," Natsu grinned, "That was a close one. Thanks, bud."
"We need to get out of here before the place crumbles," Soron said as he looked at the castle.
"No way," Natsu said sternly as he got to his feet, "We still have to take down the Phantom Lord guild's master. If we don't, he'll just destroy us all himself."
Soron thought long and hard on the best course of action, but eventually, he came to the same conclusion as Natsu. He then nodded in agreement at Natsu.
"Together then," Soron said.
"Man, there's no way that guy's gonna stand a chance against the both of us," Natsu grinned.
"Hey," Natsu said when he noticed Soron sitting down, "why aren't ya moving?"
"I'm going to rest a bit," Soron replied, "going Ultimate takes a lot out of the megatrix. It may have a fairly fast charge-rate, but I feel that I'm going to need my watch at full charge to beat Jose."
With Jose…
Jose was furious. He gritted his teeth as he saw Fairy Tail's latest victory, and it was against Phantom Lord no less.
"I don't believe it!" Jose said angrily, "My strongest wizards, the element 4, were completely wiped out by that worthless fairy tail scum!"
"Guess that makes them even worse than scum, huh," said the familiar voice of Gajeel nearby. Jose turned to see that his dragon slayer had returned with Lucy Heartfilia carried under his armpit.
"Gajeel," Jose said, "so you've returned bearing a gift, have you?"
"Yeah," Gajeel said as he dropped Lucy unceremoniously onto the ground, "I picked you a little something while I was out."
"Oh, very impressive my boy," Jose said pleased, "How were you able to track her down so quickly?"
"You should never underestimate the nose of a dragon slayer," Gajeel replied.
"She is alive, right?" Jose asked, "Without a pulse, she's worthless to us."
"Hmm," Gajeel said thoughtfully, "I was pretty rough with her."
"Let's see!" Gajeel said as he suddenly kicked Lucy which sent her flying into the wall. Lucy cried out in pain as she hit the floor hard.
"Yep," Gajeel grinned, "She's still alive and kicking!"
"Excellently done, Gajeel!" Jose grinned insanely, "I knew I could count on you!"
Back with Soron and Natsu…
They were resting against the walls to allow themselves to restore their energy. For Natsu, his mana. For Soron, his megatrix's charge and his stamina. However, they became alert as the P.A system activated.
"Attention you pathetic Fairy Tail worms," said Jose angrily, "Listen carefully, because I'll only say this once."
"What the?" Natsu asked with a serious expression.
"That's Master Jose!" Happy exclaimed. Not a few seconds later, a scream of pain echoed throughout the castle thanks to the P.A system.
"I know that scream," Natsu snarled.
"Lucy?" Happy asked concerned.
Soron just sat there silently, and with an emotionless expression.
"We have captured your Lucy Heartfilia," Jose smugly continued, "Which means our first order of business is now out of the way."
"And that just leaves us with one more thing," Jose continued, "My favorite part. Wiping all of you miserable brats right off of the face of the Earth!"
"No way," Natsu said angrily as a vein pulsed on his forehead.
At the Fairy Tail courtyard…
The Fairy Tailers all stood with frightened expressions as more and more phantoms appeared.
"Oh no," said a member.
"I think there's more now!" said another member.
"There's a ton of 'em!" exclaimed a third.
"You gotta be kiddin' me," Wakaba said, "They still wanna fight?"
Suddenly, the phantoms resumed their attack on the Fairy Tailers. Igrao slashed at one, but like with Erza his blade just went through it.
"I hate ghosts!" Igrao exclaimed.
"Can't say I disagree with ya," Maceo said as he launched a flaming fist at a few, "I'm honestly starting to think the phantoms were just playing with us earlier."
Meanwhile, with Jose…
"Keep an eye on the girl," Jose said as he headed towards his throne room's exit, "There are still some pests scuttling around my castle."
"You talking about the take-over?" Gajeel asked.
"Yes him," Jose replied, "and his friends."
"They've been lucky thus far," Jose continued as an aura surrounded him, "Their luck is about to come to an end. I'm going to exterminate them myself."
"Then there's something you should know about the take-over," Gajeel said prompting Jose to look at him.
With Natsu, Soron, and Happy…
Natsu punched a hole in a nearby piece of rubble in rage which caused some pieces to go flying from it.
"Dammit!" Natsu shouted, "They got Lucy! That means this entire war was pointless!"
"Natsu," Soron finally said attracting his attention, "It's not pointless. Just because we began this war to keep Lucy out of their hands and to get our revenge, doesn't mean it's pointless. We will keep on fighting till none of us are left standing, and even then we'll rise. You want to know why?"
Natsu just stared at Soron quietly.
"It's because we are members of Fairy Tail," Soron said, "and we never give up! Even when we die, we'll fight. It doesn't matter if the enemy has any kind of victory because, in the end, we'll remain victorious. Lucy may be captured, but we WILL get her back! To do so, we have to use all of our strength! For me, it's inside my watch. However, for you it's dormant. Believe in yourself, Natsu. Find it. Find your strength and awaken it. For Lucy. For our guild. Do it now, Natsu! Show me! Show me you can surpass me in my strongest form! Only then will you be strong enough to save Lucy and the rest of Fairy Tail!"
Natsu looked down at his right hand, before clenching it as he closed his eyes. Suddenly, the magic coursing through Natsu grew in power as his rage grew. Suddenly, flames combusted on him and whooshed until they were at a stronger power than ever before.
"N-Natsu?" Happy asked.
"He can do this," Soron smiled.
"You could've done it on your own," Happy said as he looked at Soron, "So, why did you say those things?"
"I can't do it on my own. I may be powerful thanks to my transformations, but unfortunately I'm nowhere powerful enough to take Jose on my own," Soron explained, "I need Natsu to become stronger than he has been in the past. It's the only way to save Lucy. However, now that Lucy has been taken we're going to have to split up."
Any more chance to talk was removed as Natsu roared combined with the flames sound.
Meanwhile, at the healer's tree…
Makarov lay in a bed as he rested, but now he opened his eyes; albeit slowly.
"It's Natsu," Makarov said attracting an elderly woman's attention. Her name is Porlyusica.
"Makarov?" asked Porlyusica as she walked over to him, "How are you feeling?"
"Not yet," Porlyusica said after Makarov got into a sitting position, "You still need rest."
"Since when do I listen to you?" Makarov asked with a grunt as he got out of the bed.
"A remarkably speedy recovery," Porlyusica said as she watched Makarov head towards his clothes, "Especially, for someone with so long in the tooth."
"Is that so?" Makarov asked as he got dressed.
"Do you hasten to your death?" Porlyusica asked as she turned to him.
"I will take the chance," Makarov replied, "My children need me now."
Porlyusica didn't say anything as she watched Makarov head towards the door. Before Makarov made a move to open the door, he looked over his shoulder.
"Thank you for your help," Makarov said before he left the tree.
"I swear," Porlyusica said as she looked at an old photo, "nothing changes with him."
Meanwhile, with Elfman, Grey, and Mirajane…
They finally arrived in the guildhall only to find it had been reduced to rubble, and Aria lay on the floor unconscious with his ears bleeding. Only one thing could've made that occur. Soron's Echo-Echo transformation, but it looked to be of an amplified attack. They also saw Soron sitting against a wall with an exhausted expression.
"Yo," Soron said as he raised his hand.
"You took Aria out all on your own?" Grey asked.
"Yeah," Soron said, "but I had to go Ultimate."
"Go ultimate?" Mirajane asked confused.
"I'll explain it once this whole war has ended," Soron said
Suddenly, they felt an extremely unnerving presence. They looked around for whatever was causing it as their expressions grew freaked out.
"What the?" Grey asked.
Elfman didn't immediately speak, but his sister did.
"What is it?" Mirajane asked.
"It feels like death," Soron said with gritted teeth.
"I don't like this feeling," Grey said.
"Oh," Elfman said, "I'm super-manly and it gives ME chills."
"Whatever it is," Mirajane said, "it's pure evil."
Suddenly, they heard clapping and looked to see Jose standing in the doorway they entered with a dark aura surrounding him.
"Bravo," said Jose, "You are all quite keen. Very impressive Fairy Tail wizards."
"I knew this would be fun," Jose continued, "but never in my wildest dreams did I think it'd be THIS entertaining. You annihilated the Jupiter Cannon, disposed of my elite element four. And you even managed to bring my magic giant to its knees."
"So, you're Jose," Soron said as he stood up from the ground.
"This creep?!" Elfman exclaimed.
"He's Phantom's Master?!" exclaimed Grey.
"It's like there's a black cloud hanging over him," Mirajane said a little afraid, "I feel sick just being near him."
"Thank you," Jose grinned, "You've been so kind as to entertain me. I simply must return the favor!"
"You ready?" Grey asked as he got into a stance.
"You bet!" Elfman exclaimed as he too prepared for battle.
"Ice Make: Saucer," Grey said.
"Beast Form!" shouted Elfman turning his entire right arm into a metal appendage. He and Grey then jumped into the air to attack.
"No!" Soron said as he knew they didn't stand a chance against Jose, "Don't do it!"
"Power Surge!" Jose shouted suddenly causing a purple-black magic circle to form which fired purple-black energy blasts with skulls on them right at Grey and Elfman.
That sent them flying into the rubble a few feet away.
"Elfman!" Mirajane cried out, "Grey!"
Mirajane turned to look at Jose angrily, but that's all she could do as he waved his hand which sent a blast of magic right at them. It sent all of them flying and tumbling on the ground excluding Soron. Soron transformed into Diamondhead and leaped at Jose with his arms morphed into spikes. However, Jose raised his hand and sent a blast of energy. Fortunately, Diamondhead was ready as he morphed his hands into a shield to block the attack. As soon as he landed, he swung a spike-arm at Jose. However, Jose managed to dodge each strike. Jose then grabbed Diamondhead by the spike-arm which startled Diamondhead. Jose threw him towards a piece of rubble. Now, Diamondhead isn't exactly agile so he smashed the boulder entirely.
Diamondhead picked himself back up and stood to face Jose, while Jose merely relaxed and stared at the Petrosapien.
"Fascinating," Jose said with genuine respect, "You took a shot from Jupiter at full force, did you not? And yet, you're still standing."
"Nothing can keep me down witch-boy," Diamondhead said as he crossed his arms, "Your earth-wizard learned that the hard way."
"You are indeed quite tenacious," Jose grinned, "and destroying your record of tenacity will be quite pleasurable!"
"I'd like to see you try, ugly," Diamondhead said.
With Gajeel…
Gajeel had been torturing Lucy nonstop by punching her against the wall with iron pillars from his feet and hands.
"You gotta sing better than that," Gajeel said evilly after he retracted his iron pillar arm.
"Too bad," Gajeel sneered as Lucy sobbed, "Your heart's just not in it."
"Gajeel," said another PL member attracting his attention.
"Hey," the PL member continued, "Hasn't she had enough? Besides, the master said he doesn't want her getting hurt or nothin'."
"But what else am I supposed to do?" Gajeel asked calmly.
"I can't believe he's doing this," Gajeel said mostly to himself, "He leaves me to watch over blondie here…"
"While he gets to have all the fun," Gajeel finished with a smile as he morphed his right arm into an iron pillar before he walked towards Lucy.
"Anyway," Gajeel said as he came to a stop, "I'm just playing with my little toy."
"Yeah, but," the PL member said unhappily, "If the master catches you doin' this, we're all gonna be in trouble."
Suddenly, Gajeel extended his iron pillar arm right into the PL member's face which sent him backward.
"Shut up," Gajeel said annoyed, "I know master thinks she's important, but she's just a piece of Fairy scum to me."
"Huh," Gajeel said with his arm back to normal, "Even though she's just a girl, she's still a wizard. She shoulda known what she was getting into when she joined the guild."
"You're taking this way too far, man," advised an African American PL member, "Let it go."
"Master's gonna lose it," a female PL member asked, "isn't he?"
"Well, then I'll tell him it was all your idea," Gajeel said evilly before he laughed.
"Please don't do that," the two PL members said as they sweat-dropped.
"Aw," Gajeel said as he turned back towards Lucy who was shakily pushing herself to her feet much to his shock, "I feel so sorry for her. Her fellow guild members didn't even want her back till they found out her old man's loaded."
"Geez, you're dull," said Lucy with evident pain as she held onto the wall for support, "I can barely even believe it. It's just sad. I feel sorry for you."
"What?!" the African American PL member asked incredulously, "Did she just say that?!"
"This chick's talking smack to Gajeel?" the female PL member asked shocked.
"Phantom Lord, huh?" Lucy smiled angrily, "Ruler of the spirits? Oh please. You don't scare me at all."
"You shouldn't have said that," Gajeel said with an evil grin before he suddenly extended an iron pillar into her which knocked her against the wall… hard.
"It takes some nerve to go running your mouth in a situation like this, princess!" Gajeel said angrily as he held her against the wall.
"I gotta admit," Gajeel said as he retracted his iron pillar, "You got guts."
"Make some noise!" Gajeel said as Lucy fell to the floor shaking with pain, "But not this trash-talking act you're putting on! I want screams and if I don't start gettin' what I want, you're gonna be sorry."
"Then why don't you just go ahead and do it?" Lucy asked as she looked up, "Finish me. Then you're gonna be sorry. Just you wait."
"Yeah?" Gajeel said cockily, "Who's gonna make me? I'm curious."
"Fairy Tail," Lucy replied certain, "They'll never let you get away with this. They'd take revenge! They'll never stop and if I were you, I'd be watching my back from now on. Cause, the world's scariest guild will be after you as long as you live."
"So, they're gonna come after me, huh?" Gajeel said as he morphed his arms into iron pillars, "Sounds like fun!"
He then leaped up into the air intending to kill Lucy.
"Gajeel!" exclaimed the African American PL member.
"Stop it!" shouted the female PL member.
Gajeel merely cackled evilly as he fell towards Lucy, but suddenly his iron pillar arms shattered as a fiery explosion occurred. Following the explosion, Natsu appeared and delivered a strong uppercut to Gajeel's face. Gajeel was sent flying through the air, but unlike their last confrontation, Gajeel righted himself and skidded onto the ground.
"So, I was right," Gajeel smirked, "I knew I smelled him here."
"It's Natsu!" Lucy said relieved.
"Gajeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel!" Natsu roared within a ton of flames.
Meanwhile, with Shuzy…
Shuzy stood on top of a building with her clothes damaged as she stared at the gigantic stone transforming castle. Her ears picked up on Natsu's roar, and specifically what he was roaring. She clenched her right fist before she looked down at it.
I'm on my way, Natsu, Shuzy thought as she looked back up at the castle, I won't let you take Gajeel down on your own.
Don't expect an update for a while. I'm taking another break from the story. I promise it won't be more than a year. There are just other stories I need to finish and want to focus on currently. As always. If you like the story, please leave a favorite, follow, and put down a comment if you have any questions and/or any good things to say. no offensive comments, please.