Obsessed

by TheEarthbendingRavenclaw

It takes a special kind of person to kill someone in cold blood. It takes a an even more outrageous person to kill a mother and kidnap her children. But that's exactly what someone has been doing in Fiore, and he or she has seems to have several wizards on their hit list. (Sequel to "Wedding Road Trip," "Born of END Darkness and Celestial Light," and "Children of Fairies")

13. Chapter 13: The Next Generation Rises 2

Chapter Thirteen: The Next Generation Rises Part Two

The whirring noise picked up as a wall of white engulfed the entire hospital.

"What is this?" Jellal asked.

"Wait, I've seen this before…" Erza said just as a strange screen appeared before them.

"Wha-" Jellal began to ask just as screen began to blink black and white until the image of a short, skinny man with wild purple dreadlocks appeared.

"Can you hear me now?" he asked, his voice echoing throughout the hospital. There must have been dozens of these screens scattered throughout.

"Oh, okay!" the man said as he did a strange happy dance. "Top of the morning to you all! My name is Samson and welcome to the debut of Alteria's Children!"

Samson backed up to reveal a line up of six wizards standing side-by-side just outside the hospital. One was Samson himself. The other was a bald, hunched over man with a very long moustache.

"Is that, Erigor?" Erza asked.

Sure enough it was the old wind wizard, standing next to another was a tall, willowy woman standing right next to a rather hefty looking woman with two burnt orange pigtails. The other was a rather tall, buff man with black hair, carrying a lumpy something over his shoulder.

"Erik!" Jellal gasped as he recognized his guildmate being dropped from the man's shoulder to the ground below.

The last person standing in the line up was a woman with rainbow colored hair.

"That's right, folks!" Samson shouted. "You're about to witness the birth of the greatest guild ever! Now, the woman, the legend herself, Guildmaster Alteria!"

Elena stepped forward, a wicked smile on her face. "Thank you Samson. I'm sure you're all wondering why I've had my dear friend Erigor trap you all in there with his wind wall. Well, take a look at the people standing before you. Do any of us look familiar?"

A short pause followed.

"That's right. We're the ones you goody-two-shoes have given up on. Those who have been expelled or wandered down the misguided path to dark guilds. When we've tried to redeem ourselves, we've only been turned away. You can't see beyond our past long enough to give us a second chance. So, pray tell us..."

Elena began dividing into five individual women before asking, in five identical voices: "...why should we?"

Gasps rang out through the hospital. "That's right, in an effort to return the favor of abandoning us I'm going to ask dear old Laertes here to poison you all."

Screams erupted from every room, every hall, every wing before Elena continued.

"But why should we punish the innocent children for their parent's misdeed. Send the little ones out to me and I will spare them, make them one of my children, and raise them to be some of the strongest wizards the world has ever seen! I'll give you an hour to say your goodbyes. Don't do as I say and keep your children in there and their blood will be on your hands, not mine."

Sobs began joining the cries of fear.

Elena cuckled to herself, all six versions of herself. "As an act of good faith, I'll ask Samson to keep these screens up. So you can see exactly what I'm doing the who-"

Crack. Crack. BOOM!

A loud, crimson explosion erupted behind Elena, knocking herself and her four clones off their feet. Her other guildmates also tripped and toppled over, revealing a fiery whirlpool behind them. A young girl, no more than nine years old, with pink hair and brown, blazing eyes stepped out.

"Let. Our. Parents. Go!" she ordered as five more children came out of the whirlpool behind her.

"NASHI!" Both Lucy and Natsu screamed from where they were watching the action take place on a screen in the therapy room.

Nashi, of course, could not hear her parents shouts as she scanned over the row of six identical women, the rest of the Birthday Gang standing behind her.

"Requip!" Roman said, his bow staff appearing in his hand.

Storm waved his hand, a trail of water appearing in his palm. Both boys began to step forward, but Nashi held her arms out and stopped them.

"You all take care of those five," Nashi pointed to the other five dark guild members before narrowing her eyes at Elena. "She's mine!"

Nashi held her hands out. Five firey whirlpools appeared under Elena and her clones, sucking them inside. As she disappeared Nashi called for her wings and shot off toward the roof of the hospital.

Lucy gasped from inside the hospital. "She just used Styx five times simultaneously!"

"She's gonna wear herself out before the fight even begins, what is she thinking!?" Natsu screeched, tugging at his hair as the action outside continued.

"You impudent little brats!" Laertes grumbled as he raced towards the children, only to be knocked onto his back by a metal club to the face.

"KOREE, NO!" Gajeel screamed.

"Don't let him touch you, don't let him touch you!" Levy begged as she helplessly watched her daughter leap towards the torbernite armed man.

Samson sniffed as he watched his guild mate bounced along the pavement.

"So you kids think you can just come in here and mess with our plans?" he asked, summoning two red archive screens into either hand, which he then tossed at the children.

Persephone chuckled as she arched an eyebrow, snapping her fingers. Two more screens appeared and ran into Samson's, shattering them.

"That's cute," Persephone grinned.

"Storm Bringer," Erigor shouted, causing a tornado to spin into existence.

"Memory Make Wind Wave!" Cato shouted, calling forth another tornado that began to seemingly battle with Erigor's.

"Cato!" Laxus cried, still holding his laboring wife's hand.

"C-Cato, don't!" Mirajane begged just as another contraction hit.

"Earth make lance," the hefty woman said, sending a large, earthen spear straight towards Cato-

-that shattered as Roman leaped towards it, whacking it with his bow staff.

"Roman!" Erza shouted, racing towards the wind wall only to be knocked backwards upon impact.

The tall, willowy woman lifted her hand. "Sand wave," she said in a soft, sweet voice. A gust of sand rushed towards Roman, only to be stopped in its path by a wall of water.

"Storm!" Gray shrieked, jumping to his feet.

"Oh, please!" Juvia cried. "Please don't hurt my little boy!"

The wall of water continued to block the sand attack until it was gone. The minute the sand stopped shooting forward a translucent boy burst out of the wall, soaring straight towards the woman, hitting her square in the stomach, knocking her back.

The woman did a somersault and landed gracefully on her feet as Storm changed back to normal, flaring at his opponent.

"Hm. A water wizard, eh?" the woman said. "Well, I'm afraid your time is numbered little boy. My sand will only muddy up your water, making it difficult for you to use. I admire your willingness to try, but you are simply no-"

"Water nebula!" Storm shouted, sending two helix of water towards his opponent, who calmly held her hand out in front of her, sending forth a burst of sand. The two attacks met in the middle, mixing together until it was one swirling pillar of mud.

"See?" the woman asked in a monotone voice. "Soon it will be more sand than water and I will have-"

"Cleanse," Storm called, a mischievous grin on his face as the water glowed a bright blue. The sand began to fizzle away into non-existence.

"What!?" the woman shouted, finally raising her voice as Storm took full control of the pillar and sent her flying onto her back.

"He-" Gray blinked. "He used Cleanse? In the middle of an attack? I thought that was only a healing spell!"

"So did I," Juvia nodded.

"Ugh!" the woman grunted as she sat up, just in time to be knocked back onto her back by Storm who was using water body once again.

"How…?" she grunted.

"You used your sand to try and hurt me," Storm said. "Anything that's meant to do harm, poison-"

He shot a water shot at the woman, which she dodged.

"-sickness-"

He shot again, this time hitting her in the shoulder.

"-dark magic-"

He shot her in the other shoulder.

"-even just a regular old spell that you use to try and hurt somebody, I can use my Cleanse and make it go AWAY!"

On the last word he sent forth a huge wave of water that sent the woman flying into the air and then landing roughly on the pavement of the street, right in front of a magic vehicle that had to swerve hard to avoid her, causing a loud SCREECH!

By now a crowd was forming around the hospital, but the woman didn't notice as she turned back to Storm, who was panting heavily.

"Maybe so," she said as she stood to her feet. "But that spell used up a lot of your magic energy. Seems all I'll have to do is just wait you out! Sand slicer!"

"Water Slicer!" the two spells met again, mixing into a muddy substance.

She's right, though. Storm thought. I can't keep using Cleanse over and over again like this. I've gotta figure out another way to stop her…

He began looking around, trying to find something else he could use. He spotted a fountain just outside the hospital. That would give him some more water, but it didn't really help him that much. Unless…

...suddenly a memory came to his mind, of watching his parents train.

"Unison Raid!" both Juvia and Gray shouted as a sparkling explosion of Ice and Water shot into the forest behind the Fullbuster house.

"Hey, Mommy, Daddy?" Storm asked as he sat cross-legged on the lawn behind them.

"Yes, darling?" Juvia asked.

"How come you two can do a unison raid so easy? I mean, I know trust has something to do with and since you guys are married I guess you trust each other. But is there another reason it comes so easy?"

"I guess it's because Ice magic and Water magic are so similar," Gray said with a shrug.

"Really?" Storm asked. "Can either of you do the other's magic?"

"No," Gray answered, before thinking for a bit, and then shrugging. "But then again, I don't think either of us have really tried."

"Why not?" Storm asked.

"Well, we already have our unison raid," Juvia said. "So there's really no reason for us to learn the other's. We can just combine them at will and make them stronger than they would be if just one of us learned other."

...Storm gritted his teeth. Just because his parents had never tried the other's magic didn't mean it wasn't possible. Especially if they were so similar…

Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Water Slicer!" Storm shouted, sending another attack his foes way to buy him some time to dash towards the fountain. He could hear her coming after him, getting closer with each step he took. He changed to water body, hoping that would speed him up, but he could still feel her gaining on him.

"WHAT IS HE DOING!?" Gray screeched.

"Storm, no!" Juvia cried.

Storm all but jumped into the fountain, whirling on his heel to face his opponent just as she landed in the water behind him.

Here goes nothing…

He thought as he raised his arms and shouted "FREEZE!"

The water splashed up around them and then froze solid, encasing them both in ice.

Storm let out a sigh of relief. It worked! He changed back to water body, allowing himself to slip out of the of the case of ice and slither his way to freedom, leaving his opponent trapped. Once outside he changed back to normal.

"Water geyser!" he shouted. And explosion of water erupted from the bottom of the giant ice cube, sending it shooting high into the air. The ice spun around several times before crashing back to the pavement, shattering into hundreds of little pieces. The crowd gathered around shrieked and backed away as the woman struggled to her feet, coughing and shuddering. An orb of water landed on top of her, sucking her into its center.

"FREEZE!" Storm called again, turning the orb to solid ice.

"Water Nebula!" a helix of water struck the back of the orb, sending it rolling down a hill like a bouncy ball.

"He's...he's using ice magic?" Juvia asked as she watched on. "But how?"

Gray just sniffled next to her, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. "That's my boy!"

The ice orb rolled straight into a building before it finally shattered.

"Water geyser!"

The woman was shot straight into the air before she even had a chance to stand. Another pillar of water propelled a translucent boy into the air so that he could hover over her and drop kick her straight in the stomach, sending her plummeting back to the ground where she bounced once before the boy swirled back down, grabbed her by the waist, spun her around several times in a watery vortex before tossing her into another building.

The woman growled as she pushed herself up. "You little brat! Burning sand!"

A pillar of steaming hot sand shot right into the translucent boy, sending off clouds of steam as he screamed in pain.

"OUCH! Fr-fr-freeze!" His body changed to ice, cooling the attack. The ice shattered to reveal Storm, now back to normal underneath it, panting and shuddering.

"Ow, that really hurt!"

"Really, well how about this. Sand boiler!"

The ground underneath Storm turned to smoldering hot quicksand, sucking him into its cinging depths.

"AUGH!"

"Storm!" both Fullbuster parents screeched.

"Oh, no, please, someone help him!" Juvia sobbed.

"Get away from my boy you sandy creep!" Gray seethed.

"AUGH! OUCH! AH-AH-AH!" Storm bellowed as he fought against the burning hot sand sucking him in.

"Hm. Painful, is it? I must say you put up a good fight, but I, Sina of the Sand, always win," the woman said in a calm voice.

"Not…" Storm choked back sobs as he spoke. "Not today. Water geyser!"

A blast of water managed to shoot Storm out of the sand's grip, but it fizzled and dissolved before it could carry him far, leaving him curled up in a pained ball on the ground.

"Ow...ow, ow, ow," Storm grumbled as he looked over his many burns and boils.

""I must say I am impressed," Sina said. "For such a young child you put up a good fight. But you're still only a child."

Storm gritted his teeth as he stood to his feet.

"Forget the fight, just get out of there!" Gray screamed.

"Storm, no!"

"Just a kid, huh?" Storm asked, a smile on his face. "Well, then, this is going to be really embarrassing for you. WATER NEBULA!"

"Sand bake!"

The two spells merged once again. Storm changed back to water body and sped along behind Sina. As he circled around her he kept shouting:

"Water Nebula! Water Nebula!"

Helix of water after helix of water shot out at Sina, practically overwhelming her in attacks. Before long she was surrounded by blasting water. Storm changed back to his normal self outside the circle before declaring:

"Now all I have to do is wait you out!"

"Sand-gurgle-Sand back! Sand Boi-glub glub-Boil! Sand-"

"Cleanse!"

All the sand disappeared from the water. Storm's knees began to buckle. He put a hand to his head. His vision doubled. The water nebulas began to weaken-

"Come on, buddy! Hang in there, you can do it!" Gray shouted.

"Don't give up, darling!" Juvia joined in.

"You can do it, Storm!" Gray added.

Storm took a deep breath as he straightened himself up. He was tired, beyond tired, but he knew he couldn't give up. His parents, his little brother and sister, and a big part of his guild family were in there. He had to save them!

"Water Slicer!" he shouted, sending more attacks into the already swirling circle, making the surge even stronger.

"Cleanse! Water geyser! Cleanse! Vortex, Cleanse!"

A glowing, pulsing, shuddering, pillar like vortex began to grow. After a few second though, it released, sending a gush of water all over the street.

Sina lay still at the center of the puddle, eyes wide as he body shook uncontrollably and she coughed up water.

"Fr-freeze," Storm said, freezing the whole puddle to keep the weakened opponent in place. He fell to his knees, panting. He could tell Sina was done. She had no energy left to go on, not to mention she was frozen and half-drowned. Storm fell onto his back, lying there, panting, hoping the other five would win too.

"He...he did it!" Juvia gasped.

"THAT'S MY BOY!" Gray shouted.

Juvia smiled, tears in her eyes. "Storm...you've grown up so much!"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Oof!"

"Ouch!"

"Wee!"

"Ergh!"

"Huh?"

Elena and her clones grunted as they all tumbled out and onto-

"We're...on the roof…?" one of them asked.

"But that's not fair!" Another one sobbed. "We were just about to win!"

Crack! Crack! Boom!

A crimson explosion went off in the middle of their group, sending them all flying to various corners of the roof.

Nashi landed right where the explosion had gone off, her wings still burning on her back. She glowered at the five women, teeth gritted and glistening in the light of her wings as she looked over each of them.

They all really do look the same, she thought to herself. This might be harder than I thought.

"Ugh! You again!" one of the clones gagged. "Haven't you done enough for one day? Psh! What are you even going to do? Shabby little pip squeak like you must almost be out of magic energy! So pathetic!"

That one must be disgust, Nashi decided.

"Little brat! I'm going to teach you a lesson!" another clone shouted, charging towards Nashi, a knife in hand.

"Nashi, no!" Lucy screamed.

"Get away from her!" Natsu thundered.

Nashi quickly sidestepped the clone with the knife, ignited her fists into sparkling, crimson flames. That one's anger!

"You're so unfair and mean!" yet another clone sobbed as it lifted a couple of bricks using telekinesis. "Why do you have to spoil everything!"

That's sadness! Nashi thought as she flapped her wings and flew above the bricks, that then began to follow her.

"Uh-oh," she squeaked as she took off flying to try and outrun them, which didn't work. They just kept gaining on her. She squeaked in fear again as she flipped over, flying backwards and sending blasts of crimson flames at the bricks, exploding each as the balls of fire hit them.

"Oh, look at her!" yet another clone said. "She's keeping up with us! Oh, what fun!"

And that's excitement, that means that one must be happiness!

Nashi flew to the last clone that was just smiling brightly as she watched on. Landing in front of her, Nashi clapped her hands together.

"Titan Fire Secret Arts! Titaness of Protection," Nashi began the incantation just as a piece of wood from a broken bird coop smacked her in the back of the head, she winced, but still focused sputtering pink flames forming in her open, held out palms. "See the harm inflicted onto my dear ones and allow your flame to deal out justice until the wrongs have been put right. Wrath of Rhea!"

The flames shot over the happy clone and burst into hot, sputtering flame. The happy clone screamed as she fell to her knees, writhing in pain.

The other clones charged Nashi. Nashi whirled about and shot several Thea flames at them, trying to keep them back. But for every one shot she threw at the other four clones, she also shot one at Happiness.

"What is she doing!?" Natsu screeched. "Why is she focusing so hard on that one! You've got five opponents Nashi, don't let them get to you!"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Shing! Koree grinned as her entire body was covered in metal scales. She dove towards Laertes.

"Iron Dragon-"

"I wouldn't do that," Laertes said as he side stepped out of Koree's way. "There are torbernite crystals. One touch and you'll be dead, little girl."

"Oh!" Koree squeaked. "That would have been nice to know before picking bad guys to fight."

"Poison god-slayer..."

"Eek!"

Koree barely dodged the attack, and landed flat on her face upon the pavement. She quickly popped her head up, calling:

"Iron dragon roar!"

The roar managed to push Laertes a few feet back.

Huh. That's good to know. But I can't just keep roaring at him!

"Eep!" Koree dodged another attack.

There's gotta be something I can do, Koree thought as she somersaulted out of the way of another attack of poisonous gas.

But what? She thought, climbing up on a statue. "Iron dragon roar!"

If I touch him it's bye-bye for me!

Laertes pushed the statue with his crystal hand, sending it toppled over, dumping Koree onto the pavement.

"Koree!" Levy cried.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Gajeel shouted.

"Oof!" Koree said as she landed face first on the sidewalk. "C'mon, think, what would the other dragon slayers do?"

"God-slayer-"

"Yikes!" she jumped aside, cartwheeling to safety.

"C'mon, think! What would they do? Dad? Uncle Natsu? Uncle Laxus? Aunt Wendy? Uncle Erik? Wait, that's it! Persephone!"

Koree shouted to her sister, who was currently sending archive saw after archive saw at the numerous screens Samson was throwing her way.

"Sephy, I need you to look something up for me!"

"I'm a bit busy, sis!" Persephone shouted back, blocking another attack.

"Poison pillar!"

"Ack!" Koree barely jumped out of the way of a poisonous blast of energy that exploded from right where she had been standing. "And I'm about to get killed over here so help me out!"

"Poisonous rebuke!"

"Eek!" Koree jumped just as an explosion of poisonous gas went off right where her head had been.

"THAT'S NOT AN OVEREZAGGERATION EITHER, I'M GONNA DIE!"

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, WHAT IS IT!?"

"I'M THINKING IT, USE YOUR TELEPATHY AND SEND ME THE GOODS SOON!"

"FINE!" Persephone opened a new screen, furiously typing away as she shot more saw at more of Samson's attacks.

"Koree, you're kidding, right?" Persephone asked.

"Nope," Koree said, dodging another attack.

"You know if this goes wrong you'll die, right?"

"Well, I'm gonna die anyway, so might as well-AH!" another explosion went off over Koree's head. "JUST SEND ME WHATEVER YOU FOUND!"

Persephone did so.

"THAT'S IT!?"

"I'm sorry, I-OUCH!" One of Samson's screens finally found their mark on the back of Persephone's skull.

"Sephy! Okay, I got it, just focus on your own fight!" Koree said, running straight towards Laertes rather than dodging his attacks.

"Koree, don't!" Persephone shouted!"

"Poisonous wave," Laertes said, sending a wave of poisonous gas Koree's way. Koree gulped, closed her eyes, then exhaled deeply-

"Is she…" Levy's voice quavered.

"DON'T DO IT!" Gajeel screamed.

Koree inhaled deeply, sucking all of the poisonous gas into her lungs.

"KOREE, NO!" Persephone screamed.

"KOREE!" Levy cried.

"NO!" Gajeel thundered.

"Koree!" Persephone pushed herself to her feet, running to her sister, tears in her eyes. How could Koree be so stupid!? As she approached her twin she was suddenly taken aback.

Koree's scales, usually a dark, iron gray were now trimmed by a deep crimson. The scales around her eyes were a bright red, as were her claws. Koree sucked up the last of the poison, then smiled widely and wickedly at Laertes.

"What!?" the poison god-slayer asked. "But how, you should be dead!?"

"Did she just…" Levy asked, turning to Gajeel who just started, jaw slack and tears in his eyes.

Koree took in another deep breath. "Iron Poison Dragon…"

Laertes took a step back as Koree shouted:

"ROAR!"

A tornado of red and gray burst out of Koree's mouth, striking Laertes in the chest and sending him backwards.

"Told you it would work," Koree smirked to her sister, who just smiled, brushing her tears away.

"Yeah, you did."

Fwoosh!

Crash!

Persephone blocked another one of Samson's screens with hers, shattering them both.

Samson's frown deepened as he glared at Persephone. "So, what, we're just gonna keep breaking each other's screens until one of us gives up?"

Persephone looked at the thousands of shards surrounding them. "Nah, I think this will do."

She stomped on the ground. All of the shards trembled and then lifted into the air, swarming above her into one large cloud and shrapnel.

"She...she can control them even when they're broken!?" Samson's voice trembled.

"ARCHIVE CLONES!" Persephone shouted. The broken pieces divided themselves, twisting and clinking together until they'd morphed into colorful, grotesque humanoid forms, four of them. All of the humanoids charged towards Samson, punching, kicking, even jumping on top of them. He swung at them, sent more screens at them, but everytime he knocked one of the clones over they reformed. The more screens he broke, the more clones formed.

"She...she's using my own magic against me!" he shrieked. "How is that possible? I've never even heard of an archive wizard using broken screens before, much less making something out of them!"

"Guess you've never heard of thinking-" Persephone snapped her fingers and a cube formed around Samson. "-outside the box."

"Really?" Koree peaked over from her fight, an unamused scowl on her face. "Puns? Now?"

"JUST WORRY ABOUT YOUR FIGHT AND LET ME FOCUS ON MINE!"

"HEY!" Samson began beating against the screens of the cube. "LET ME OUT!"

"Sorry, only me, my folks, or my sister can get you out of that," Persephone grinned.

"And I ain't letting you out!" Koree answered as she leapt onto Laertes shoulder.

"I SAID FOCUS ON YOUR OWN FIGHT!"

"She makes things from broken screens and she's mastered protective cube…" Laertes' eyes widened. "THAT CAN'T BE RIGHT! YOU'D HAVE TO BE THE STRONGEST ARCHIVE WIZARD TO HAVE EVER LIVED TO DO ALL THAT!?"

"Yeah, and," Persephone shrugged.

As Persephone continued taunting Samson, Koree locked her legs around Laertes neck, scratching furiously at his eyes with her claws.

"Augh!" Laertes began beating against Koree's legs, trying to get the vicious little creature off him. He finally got a hold of one of her arms with his crystal hand and jerked her off his neck. He held her out at arm's length, smiling as he thought of watching the girl's energy slip away. He was absolutely shocked when, instead, Koree pulled up, bit onto one of the crystals, tore a chunk off, and chewed it down.

"WHAT-" he thundered as he felt her magic energy increase rather than dwindle away.

"I'm an iron-poison dragon slayer now, poison only makes me stronger!" Koree said as she turned her arm into an iron club coated in poisonous gas and punched Laertes in the face with it.

"If that's the case, how come I was able to beat up your little friend? He's a poison dragon slayer as well. But I'm a poison god-slayer, I'm stronger than you dragons!"

"Maybe because he didn't have two elements?" Koree shrugged, changing both of her hands to spinning swords. "But it doesn't really matter, because you're fighting me and I'm gonna kick your butt!" She slashed at his crystal arm with both swords. Laertes lifted it out of her grasp, ready to smash her on the head with it, but she, instead dove underneath him, between his legs, nicking each ankle with the tips of her swords. This caused Laertes's legs to give out, sending him to his knees. Koree jumped back to her feet and swung both swords at his crystalized arm, the blades spinning and whirring wildly as she did so.

The impact caused the crystals to shatter and sent Laertes tumbling to the side. He lifted his head just in time to see Koree take a deep breath in, sucking the crystal shards into her mouth as she did so. He all but gagged in disgust as her magic power jumped up even more.

"I just ate your power boost, and every attack you sent me, making me stronger while you get weaker, so tell me big guy, whatcha gonna do?" Koree asked in a mocking voice as she dance side to side. "Huh? Huh? Whatcha gonna d-"

Laertes let out a grumble before kicking Koree square in the face and sending her flying on her back.

"Oh, that's what you're gonna do," she groaned as she sat back up just in time to see more crystals growing on his arm.

"Aw, c'mon, that's not even fair!" Koree whined, kicking her feet in aggravation.

"You really think a whiny little brat like you is able to stop me?" Laertes asked. "I've beaten wizards far stronger than you in that past. What makes you think you even have a chance!"

"I dunno," Koree shrugged. "Just thought I'd give it a shot. Oh, by the way, watch your head!"

Koree shot a metal buzz saw at Laertes's head, which he promptly doged.

"You missed," he said with a smug smile.

"Did I though?" Koree asked.

Before Laertes could answer a rather large lamp post landed right on top of him and Koree.

"Ouch!" he grumbled before turning to Koree, arms and chest pinned under the post. "Foolish, girl now you're trapped as w-"

Laertes stopped as he noticed Koree standing up, perfectly fine, bits of the metal post still sticking out of her mouth.

"I'm an IRON poison dragon slayer, remember? Now, I think I've got enough energy. Sis, gimme a boost!"

Persephone shot forward a set of stair-step like screens which Koree ran up before taking a wild dive off the top one, headed straight for Laertes.

"IRON POISON DRAGON CRUSHING FANG!" she shouted as she held both hands out infront of her. A mist of poison filled with sharp, iron bits of shrapnel came thundering down on top of Laertes in the shape of a dragon head, it's mouth open and chomping. Laertes could barely even scream before the attack hit him, the dragon's mouth engulfing his entire head as the tiny metal blades scoured over his skin, burning because of the poison they were doused in.

The spell was so powerful it kept Koree airborne. She screamed as she put all of her energy into the attack.

"Shoot! This guy's tough!" she said as she sensed that though Laertes was taking a beating, it still wasn't enough to keep him down.

"F-f-fight me all you want," Laertes cried from within the cloud of poison and iron. "Even pinned down and over-overwhelmed by your pitiful clouds...I'm still stronger than you!"

Persephone gritted her teeth as she tried to think. This guy was tougher than either of them. There was one possible solution, but it would be hard to pull off, especially seeing as neither she nor Koree had done it before and their magic types were pretty different.

Still, she called to Koree using her telepathic link.

"I've got an idea."

"What?"

"But it may not work."

"Are you going to tell me what it is or just complain about how stupid of an idea it is?"

"I didn't say it was stupid, I said it would be hard to do!"

"So spill it!"

After a few seconds Koree's attack stopped. Laertes took the opportunity to push the pole off himself and stand up. He was cut to near ribbons, but still very much standing and with a lot of fight left in him. He turned to find Koree and Persephone standing side by side, Persephone calling forth dozens of screens.

"Sure about this?" she asked.

"Well, we are twins so if anyone can pull this off we can," Koree said.

Persephone nodded. "Right."

She slammed all the screens onto the ground, shattering them and then lifting the shards in a cloud above her head.

"Archive Chaos!" she shouted, holding one hand above her head as the shards began to dance in a circle above her head.

"Iron Poison Dragon Spiral Jaw!" Koree called, holding her hand above her head, a spiral of poison and a spiral of iron twisting above her head.

The twins then brought their hands down and together, palm to palm.

"Are...are they going to…" Levy stuttered.

"No way!" Gajeel breathed.

"REDFOX TWINS UNISON RAID!" both girls screamed, locking fingers and thrusting their hands forward. Their two attacks merged and combined,

Laertes barely even had time to gasp. His eyes widened, there was no way! These two magics were so different, how were they-

Then it hit him, literally and painfully. Each of the archive shards found a nerve, or pressure point, or pain receptor and attacked them. Right behind them came and iron shard, not only driving the archive one deeper into his flesh, but also imbedding itself in afterwards. The parts of his body that weren't all but screaming in pain were left numb and useless. The poison coating all of the shards only added insult to injury, stinging the already injured parts of his body.

By the time the attack finished all her could do was collapse. His limbs were practically useless. He couldn't even force himself to crawl. His arms and legs wouldn't respond.

Koree and Persephone panted as they looked over their work. Then they smiled, lifted their arms and fist-bumped before collapsing to the ground, exhausted.

"Those are my babies!" Gajeel clapped, tears in his eyes. "Those are my girls! Look at my rugrats! Look at 'em kicking butt like their old man!"

Levy could only smile, tears of pride in her eyes as well. My, my, how their girls had grown!

"So, should we go look for the others?" Koree panted.

"You go look if you want. I'm keepin' an eye on these two."

"Why do I gotta go?"

"'Cuz it's your idea."

"Good point," Koree grumbled as she hoisted herself onto her feet and began stumbling off to look for her friends.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

All of Elena's clones suddenly disappeared, leaving only the one being burned to a crisp by Nashi's Wrath of Rhea spell.

Nashi let out a loud sigh of relief as she collapsed onto her knees gasping for breath.

"H...how…?" Elena asked as the flames surrounding her began to fade.

"Persephone was tracking all of your clones through her archive, and there was always one of you hidden away in the middle of nowhere," Nashi explained as she turned to Elena. "I figured it was because that was the real you and if I could defeat that one the rest of your clones would go away."

"Clever girl," Elena hissed as she stood to her feet. "But you forgot to account for one thing."

Debris being tossed upon the roof by all the other fights going on down below began rising in the air. "You didn't beat me. Just hurt me enough to get rid of my clones. And now you're almost all out of magic energy!"

Nashi's eyes grew wide at the sight of all the debris flying above her.

"NASHI, NO!" both Natsu and Lucy screamed as they helplessly watched on.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Requip!" Roman shouted, his staff disappearing and being replaced by two sets of nunchucks.

"Earthen blades," his foe called, sending bits of earth in the shape of throwing knives his way. Roman twirled his nunchucks as he dove forward, sliding on his knees under the first attack, swing one nunchuck up to shatter the blades as they were over his head. He'd barely hopped back to his feet as three more earthen weapons were shot his way. Leaning to one side, then the other he smashed the first two to dust with his weapons. The third looked as if it would hit him, though.

"Roman, look out!" Erza shrieked.

Roman leaned back, letting the arrow fly over him and imbed itself in the ground behind him.

"I know you," the buff woman fighting Roman said, an evil smile on her face. "You're the son of Titania."

Roman just stared at her, an indiscernible expression on his face.

Erza held a hand to her mouth. This woman was about to go mad on her son just because of her reputation. Jellal set a hand on her shoulder before shouting:

"Don't let her frighten you Roman! You can do this! Fight!"

"Well then," the woman cracked her knuckles as well as her neck. "Let's see what you've got, fairy boy! Earthen spiral!"

The ground below Roman shot towards the sky, creating a spiralling staircase that spun around, and around, and around, as it rose higher and higher and higher.

Roman stumbled a bit as he was shot in the air, but quickly recovered, stood to his feet and called:

"Requip!"

His nunchucks disappeared and were replaced by a bull whip. He popped the whip towards a lamp post, wrapping it around the neck of the lamp leaning over the street before jumping off and swinging back towards the ground. As he was still airborne he jerked the whip free, and popped it around the woman's neck.

She gagged as she stumbled back onto her bum while Roman landed. He jerked on the whip, using the momentum of his landing to send the woman crashing into the hospital's nearby sign.

"Oof!" she grunted as she stood up. "Not bad for a pipsqueak. But it's going to take more than that. Earth club!"

Several club like structures shot out of the earth straight at Roman.

"Yikes!" he squeaked before jumping to avoid one of the clubs. He, of course, landed right back onto it.

His foe took advantage of this, sending the cloud farting every which way, forcing Roman to hold on for dear life. He squinted as he tried to find a way out, his whip still in hand. What could he use to swing off of? Clock, no. Flower pot, no. Tree?

The woman brought the club back towards her. As it came flying back with the terrified little boy still clinging to it, she called forth some dirt to incase her fist in. As the club passed under her, she raised her fist up and brought it down on his back-

"ROMAN!" both Jellal and Erza screamed.

-the minute she touched the boy he fizzled from existence.

"Huh? What is this? Some kind of illusion?" she asked just as she felt a sharp kick to the back of her head.

"Requip!" Roman called as he landed right on top of her from his jump out of the tree. Dozens of throwing stars appeared above him which he used to pin the woman to ground by her clothes.

"Oh, come on!" She shouted. "I just got this outfit!"

The ground seemingly opened up and engulfed both her and Roman.

"Where'd he go!?" Erza screeched.

"Roman? Roman!" Jellal shouted.

Like a mole the woman dragged Roman through the ground before spitting him up onto the concrete.

"Ugh!" Roman coughed up dirt before a club of earth hit him in the gut and tossed him aside.

"You're a sneaky little bugger, I'll give you that," the woman stated as she sauntered toward him. "But you're no match for old Wilma in a one-on-one battle!"

She set her foot on Roman's back, or tried to because the minute she touched him he fizzled from existence again.

"Wha-Oof!"

A bow staff whacked her legs out from under her from behind.

"You are a slow learned," Roman said before calling "Requip!"

The nunchucks reappeared. As Wilma sat back up she was smacked in the back of the head with a nunchuk. She growled and went to punch Roman with her earth covered fist. He, however, caught it with the chain of his nunchuck. Grabbing either staff with both hands he gave them a twist, and knocked the woman off balance, as well as cracking her earthen gauntlet, turning it to dust. He then struck her in the back of the head again, sending her face first into the ground.

She disappeared back into the earth. Roman followed after her, requpping his throwing stars and using his telekinesis to send them into the ground.

Wilma grunted as a few, or actually several, of the throwing stars found their mark, cutting her skin or embedding into her back. She hand't suggested such a fight from such a tiny little boy, son of Titania or not!

She popped out of the ground and looked behind her. He was still on her tail! This was crazy, why was she running from a child. She stood to her feet to face him, then heard a small voice calling:

"Roman? Nashi? Storm?"

She turned to find one of the other children, one of the teal-haired twin girls stumbling along, calling for her friends. "Cato? Roman?"

She grinned evilly as she turned back to Roman. One look and she knew he'd noticed her too. His eyes had grown wide. This girl was in very rough shape. She was covered in scrapes and bruises and her magic energy was very low.

No doubt she's faced one of the others and lost, Wilma thought to herself. As she called forth several of her clubs.

"Earthen pommel!" she shouted, sending the attack towards the girl.

"KOREE!" Roman screeched, racing forward.

Koree turned to see the earth clubs coming towards her. She gasped hand held her arms out to block the blow-

-that never came.

Koree heard Roman cry out "REQUIP!"

Next she heard a gasp.

And then a Clunk!

She cautiously peaked one eye open, then gasped and turned to stare at the sight before her. Roman stood in front of her, dressed in a chainmail robe. Underneath the robe were black pants and boots. He had a wide brimmed, cone-shaped, black and red hat on his head. His arms, legs, and chest were protected by black and red armor plating. He held a large, circular shield with bladed edges out in front of him as he stood in a lunge, his heels dug into the ground.

"Koree are you okay," he asked, turning his head towards her, revealing his lower face was covered by a black scarf, no doubt meant to keep dust or other such things from choking him.

Koree stared, jaw open a little while longer, before nodding and giving a small "Mm-hmm."

"Is that-" Jellal breathed, eyes wide with wonder.

"The Fusegu Armor," Erza confirmed, eyes shining in pride. "He finally did it!"

Roman dug his heels deeper into the ground as he pushed back against Wilma's attacking, crumbling it.

"Wha-" she gasped just as Roman tossed the shield at her like a frisbee. It bounced of her head, leaving a nasty gash on her brow before spinning back into Roman's hands.

"Oh, so what?" she asked. "You think a little outfit change will help you? EARTH SPIN BLADE!"

A spinning saucer of earth came rushing at Roman. He lifted his wrist, blocking it with his black, armor guard, causing the saucer to shatter instantly.

Wilma gasped, then gritted her teeth. "Earth raining blades!"

Dozens, upon hundreds of earth knives shot towards Roman.

"Roman!" Koree screeched as he friend was hidden from view in a cloud of earth and dust.

Wilma smiled, confident the boy would be overwhelmed by her attack. Roman, however, walked calmly out of the cloud, not a scratch in sight.

"Wha-that did nothing!?" Wilma gasped. "How is that possible! Earth club, triple attack!"

Three Earth clubs shot at Roman. He lifted his shield and blocked the first, causing it to crumble. He then used the bladed edge of the knife to slice the other two clubs in half, reducing them to dust.

Wilma cringed from both shock and disgust. How was this kid destroying all of her attacks?

Roman kept calmly walking towards her.

Now she started to panic a bit. None of her attacks seemed to be hurting him anymore! And he just kept walking straight towards her.

"Earth wall!" she shouted, raising a dirt barrier between her and the boy.

Schwing!

With one swing of his shield Roman cut the wall in two, dissolving the top part into a cloud of dust.

"Wha-" Wilma shouted just as she felt another slicing smack against her face, knocking her back onto her back. She'd barely hit the ground when she felt herself being lifted into the air...by seemingly nothing.

Using his telekinesis Roman lifted Wilma into the air and tossed her into the tree he'd swung out of earlier. He then tossed the shield into the air, slicing a tree branch from the trunk and sending it crashing onto the opponent.

"AUGH!" Wilma shouted as she was squished. "Earth wildfire!"

Burning hot tendrils of dirt in the shape of flames shot towards Roman. This was one of her more complicated spells, surely this would stop him.

The first tendril rushed towards Roman's face. He lifted the shield, slicing it with the edge, turning it to dust. Two more aimed towards him, he lifted the shield and blocked it. Five more surrounded him and tried to burn him, but they were practically useless against the armor. Roman sliced each of them with his shield, turning them all to dust.

"EH!?" Wilma screeched. "EARTH WILDFIRE INFERNO! AND CHAOS!"

A legion of earth shaped flames and spikes aimed towards Roman. He tossed the shield toward them, cutting them all in half with one fail swoop.

"I-eh-uh!" Wilma sputtered. How was this kid so-

The shield spun towards her again, slicing yet another gash into her face. Wilma was very dizzy and losing blood. She began to go cross eyed. But still sent out a rain of earthen clubs. Roman jumped, letting one go under him before landing on top of it and riding it into the air. Two more clubs came swerving towards them. He cut them both to nonexistence with ease. He then back flipped off the club he was riding one, slicing it down the center by throwing the shield at it. It spun back into his hand just as he began to fall down ward.

He tucked himself into a ball, holding the shield to one side of his body. He then began spinning himself, turning himself and the shield into a living buzz saw that rolled down one of the clubs, destroying it completely. As he reached the end he straightened himself up and jumped off it, tossing the shield out in front of him. The shield bounced off three of the clubs multiple times at lightning speed, disintegrating them. Roman landed, feet firmly planted as he reached out a hand and called the shield back. He turned back towards Wilma, and marched towards her.

She began to tremble, desperately clawing at the ground and throwing chunks of dirt at him rather than resorting to magic. Roman blocked each chunk tossed at him without a struggle. He finally reached her and punched her square in the head, knocking her out cold, blood trickling down her face from the numerous cuts he'd left on her forehead and brow.

"Whoa," Koree breathed. "You're actually kinda scary, y'know that?"

"You better get somewhere safe," Roman said, ignoring her first comment. "At least until your magic energy comes back."

"Right, guess I'll go back to Sephy," Koree nodded as she scuffled off, still a little freaked out by Roman's fight.

"Son of Titania, indeed," Jellal smiled, setting his arm around Erza's shoulder. "He's turning out to be just like you.

Erza could only smile in pride.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Oof!" Nashi grunted as a chunk of dirt hit her in the gut, tossing her backwards. She spread her wings to fly away just as a scrap of metal flew straight at her.

"Nashi!" Lucy screamed.

Nashi ducked out of the way, but not soon enough. The scrap metal grazed her just below her rib right rib cage.

"AUGH!" Nashi cried out as she put a hand to her wounded side, blood seeping through her fingers.

"She's hurt!" Natsu shouted, red beginning to cloud his vision.

"Thea's fury!" Nashi shouted, tossing a crimson fire ball at Elena. As she did so her wings began to fade. "Uh-oh!"

"Like I said, you're almost out!" Elean snickered as Nashi began to lower and fall from the sky, before finally crashing to the rooftop.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The ground shook as a concussive BOOM filled the air as two tornadoes collided into each other.

Cato squinted as he focused on his spell. He was still weak from casting Thunder Palace, but quitting wasn't an option. He glanced at his opponent. He was an older man with a long white mustache. Clearly he was a wind wizard. What spells to Cato have the could combat this.

The tornadoes kept spinning against each other until they had meshed into one. Cato felt Erigor try to pull the tornado from him. He pulled on it as well. He needed something to tip the odds in his favor.

"Memory make lighting blast!"

Yellow electricity shot into the tornado, tossing and swirling about a little bit before jumping out and shocking Erigor. The wind wizard flew backwards, smacking into a pillar near the front of the hospital. Cato now having full control of the tornado, sucked Erigor up into it, spinning him around and around and shooting him into the air. Erigor, however, cast a small gale of wind underneath himself and lower himself harmlessly to the ground.

"Interesting technique," he said. "Wait until the opportune moment when I think I'm about to get the upper hand to strike. You have quite a bit of restraint for one so young."

Cato's brow furrowed. Was this guy trying to distract him?

"Maybe if I'd shown such restraint in my younger days I wouldn't be where I am now."

"Hm?" Cato asked, cocking his head to one side.

"Storm shreds!"

Sharp, short, knife-like winds darted towards Cato.

"Memory make wood wall!" Cato shouted, a tree sprouting up in the shape of a rectangle sprouting up in front of him. Cato ducked behind it to shield himself from the attack, but with little success. The sharp winds cut through the wood like a knife through butter, sending splinters raining down on Cato, forcing him to roll out of the way before he was completely covered in tiny wooden stakes.

"Ouch!" he cried as he scurried out of the shrapnel's path, not escaping the entire brunit of the attack as some of the splinters embedded themselves in his back.

More sharp winds collided into Cato's side, sending him flying.

"Ugh! Memory make Ice Knife!" Cato shouted. Ice blades flew out from his hand, colliding with the wind wones chasing him. They only succeeded in stopping Erigor's attack, though, shattering both sets into non existence. They did nothing to harm the enemy, nor to soften the blow as Cato crashed back to the ground.

Laxus cringed as he watched his son bounce against the pavement of the sidewalk.

"Is he…" Mirajane panted as she pushed. "Is he alright?"

"Yeah," Laxus lied. "He'll be fine."

Cato pushed himself back onto his feet.

"Storm Bringer!"

"Yikes!" Cato squealed as he was sucked up into a tornado.

Oh no! He thought as he spun around and around and around. Okay, how did Nashi handle this earlier….umm…

Erigor sighed. Poor little fairy boy didn't stand a-

Crunch!

"Oof!" Erigor fell onto his back as a large chunk of stone hit him. He could hear a faint voice from inside the tornado call:

"Memory make Raining Stone!"

Erigor pushed himself up just in time to see several stones riding along in his tornado before flying out, straight towards him. He jumped, flew, ducked, dodged to get away from the rocks, but some still struck him before he was able to get fully airborne. Now flying in the air where he had the advantage he didn't think he would need when facing a child, he turned back to the tornado.

"Memory Make Fire Talon!"

A burst of fire arose from the center of the tornado as Cato flew out of it, two flames ignited on his feet. Cato used the force to propel himself straight towards Erigor, locking his arms around the older man's waist as they shot forward, straight into the pillar from before.

Erigor gasped as the pillar cracked under the impact. He got me again! Waiting once more for an opening! This kid's sharp, I can't let my guard down even for a second. Before he even recovered her felt a hard punch to the jaw.

"Memory Make Stone Fist!" the stone disappeared from around Cato's hand as he dropped back to the ground. Before he hit it though, he called:

"Memory Make Wool Pillow!"

A pink, fluffy substance broke Cato's fall and he bounced off it, somersaulting back onto his feet before taking the cloud away, letting Erigor hit the cold, hard pavement.

"Oof! Jerk!" Erigor grumbled.

"Heh," Laxus grinned. Cato was actually holding his own against this guy.

"What did you mean when you said earlier if you were like me you wouldn't be in this mess?" Cato asked, brows furrowed.

"What's it matter to you?" Erigor asked, slowly, shakily pushing himself up.

"Just curious," Cato shrugged.

Erigor sighed as he stood to his feet, clutching an injured arm to his side. "I was once a strong and powerful wizard. So powerful that I was approached on several occasions for lucrative assassination jobs. Because I had no restraint I took them, and ended up getting my guild's legal status revoked. Since that day I've been unable to lead a normal and wholesome life again. In short, I'm envious of you. Even as young as you are and in the heat of battle you've demonstrated great patience and control, watching a waiting for the right time to strike. Such as now! STORM SHREDS!"

"AH!" Cato screamed as knife-like wind blasts rained down on him.

"Cato, no!" Mirajane cried, voice strangled by another contraption.

"We need to get that screen out of here, she has to focus on pushing," a healer said.

"No, no, I have to see him!" Mirajane cried. "I have to see my son!"

Laxus gritted his teeth as he set and arm around Mirajane's shoulders, trying to comfort her.

"C'mon, Cato."

Cato fell onto his face as the attack continued slicing at his skin and clothes. By the time the attack ended he was trembling with pain.

Erigor smirked down at the child. "Pity, you really did have a lot of potential. But you're still no match for-"

"Memory Make Ice Geyser!"

Boom!

An icey explosion sent Erigor toppling backwards. "Ouch! Ergh!"

"You think this is going to help?" Cato asked in a weak voice as he struggled to his feet. "You think killing a hospital full of people is going to make your life better? Or help you make up for what you did wrong?"

"Well, it'll get Alteria's Children started, so, yes," Erigor answered.

"And you think a dark guild is going to help you. Dark guild don't help anyone! They're bad guys!"

Erigor rolled his head back and laughed. "Oh, you simple-minded child. There's no such thing as good guys or bad guys. Only people doing what they can to stay on top and survive! Wind Male!"

A flurry of white air surrounded Erigor like armor.

"Memory Make Water Slicer!"

A blast of water shot out at Erigor, but his wind male blew it straight back at Cato, who was barely able to duck in time.

"You see?" Erigor asked. "If all this turns out to be is a battle of good and evil, and I'm supposedly the bad guy, then how come I'm about to win?"

"Who said you were gonna win?" Cato asked, pressing a finger to both sides of his head.

"So you, the good guy, are going to beat me up? Isn't that a bad thing to do?"

"Not if it means protecting my family!" Cato answered. "Memory Make Father and Daughter Lightning Dragon Roars!"

Two yellow magic circles appeared next to Cato and shot forth two massive bursts of lightning magic.

"Eh?" Was all Erigor managed to say as the lightning blasts struck him, breaking through his wind male. He let out a yelp of pain, but it was not nearly as loud as the cry CAto gave out as he intensified the attack. Erigor's wind male was now completely gone, but he still dug his heels into the ground, trying to push back against the lightning despite the pain.

Two dragon roars at once!? He thought as he was quickly blown off his feet. Who is this kid?

Erigor bounced all the way down the street, lighting coursing through his body and up every pole, lamp post, or clock he came close to. Cato watched him go, then noticed something. The whirring noise that had been filling the air the whole time began to face. He turned and looked behind him. The wind wall entrapping the hospital was fading!

Cato let out a sigh of relief, then collapsed onto his knees, utterly exhausted.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"What!?" Elena shrieked as the wind barrier began to disappear.

Nashi smiled. One of her friends must have taken out that wind wizard.

"Ugh, no matter," Elena huffed. Raising her hand above her head, all the debrid turning to point at Nashi. "I've got other ways of eliminating my rivals."

She walked over to Nashi, an almost sad look on her face as she watched the little girl pant, limbs shaking.

"It's a shame, really. I was looking forward to having you as one of my children. But you're far too dangerous to keep alive," Elena said, snapping her finger, sending all the debris flying Nashi's way.

"NNNNNAAASSSHHHIIII!" Lucy's cry almost tore her throat.

"I suppose there are still your younger siblings," Elena shrugged.

BOOOOM!

The hospital shook, cracks formed all the way down the wall, smoke erupted from the rooftop. Crimson, pink, red, and orange flames burst out from Nashi, turning all the debris to ash.

"Wha-I thought she was-"

"GGRRAAUUUGGGHHH!"

Elena skipped like a stone thrown across a pond a top the roof. She looked up in shock at the seething little girl.

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM LAYLA AND IGNEEL!" Nashi screamed, crimson flames in her hands.

Elena smirked, despite the immense pain from that last punch. "Guess you still had a little juice left in you, eh? No matter, you're still running on fumes little girl!"

She pulled out the knife her anger clone had been using earlier. "A good thing I got this thing enchanted before coming hear. Slicing Pain!"

She pointed the knife at Nashi, the blade glowing a bright green.

Nashi took a deep breath. She wasn't sure if this was going to work, but those names she'd been hearing all day must have meant something. She held one hand out in front of her and called:

"ATLAS!"

A small, yellow and firey magic circle appeared in her palm. A slightly bigger and brighter one then appeared before it, followed by an even bigger and brighter one, and then another until their were four magic circles in front of her. Nashi's vision began to double. This was the absolute last drop of magic energy she had left. If this didn't do anything then she was done for.

"Activate!" Elena shouted. A burst of green magic shot towards Nashi. It hit the first magic circle, and began to hiss…

"What's happening? What is that spell?" Lucy asked, hands clasped to her chest.

"No idea, but it looks like it's eating Elena's attack!" Natsu said as the green beam of magic continued to get sucked into the first magic circle. As it swirled about inside of it it began to lose its color, going from green to white.

"No…"Lucy said as the blast made its way to the second magic circle, where is seemingly melted from a beam to a liquid. "Not eating it, breaking it down...those magic circles are converting the spell back into magic energy…"

The spell moved to the third magic circle where is spun around itself, faster and faster, ridding it of any specific elements of magic, leaving only the energy needed to cast the spell in the first place.

"...it's going to refuel Nashi's magic energy supply!" Lucy gasped as the spell made its way into the last magic circle and then into Nashi herself.

A bright yellow light first shined over Nashi's hand, then her arm, then her whole body. She took a deep breath and then smiled, feeling immediately refreshed.

"WHAT!?" Elena shrieked, taking a step back. "That can't be right! Slicing Pain activate!"

"ATLAS!" The four magic circles appeared in front of Nashi again and gave her another energy boost.

Nashi's grin widened all the more. "Sweet! So how about...IAPETUS!"

Nashi held both hands out to her sides. Black flames erupted in her palms, shooting straight up and twisting until they formed two fiery, black swords.

"Cool!" Nashi grinned, before narrowing her eyes at Elena. "Guess it's a good thing I've been training with Roman and Aunt Erza. HYAH!" She jumped to Elena, slashing down at her with the swords. Elena changed her body density, but it did her no good as the weapons were made of fire. She yelped in pain, and instead opted to try and stab Nashi with her knife.

"Eos!" Nashi's wings reappeared and she flew out of Elena's reach. She threw both swords at Elena, one missed, but the other went straight through her chest. It didn't kill her because of her body's density, but it clearly was hurting her judging by her pained yelps. Nashi snapped her fingers. Both swords exploded, sending Elena on her back.

Nashi held her palm out to Elena. "Iapetus!" Swirling black and smoking throwing stars made of metal flew from her palm, each finding their mark. Elena all gut growled from pain and frustration as she pointed the knife at Nashi again. She almost shook the ground with her shout of anger as a massive blast of green magic shot from her knife.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

"ATLAS!" Nashi held the magic circles out in front of herself again. Same as before the circles converted the attack back into pure energy that it then transferred into Nashi. Unlike the times before, though, Elena didn't stop her attack.

"THERE'S ONLY SO MUCH ENERGY A BODY CAN TAKE!" she screamed. "SOONER OR LATER YOU'LL REACH YOUR LIMIT, AND WHEN YOU DO I'LL TAKE YOUR SIBLINGS AND ALL THE OTHER CHILDREN AND MAKE THE GREATEST AND STRONGEST GUILD THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN!"

Nashi could definitely feel what Elena was talking about. Her hands were actually starting to burn a bit. Yes. She, a fire wizard, was starting to burn. Nashi didn't look worried at all, though. Instead she grinned.

"Styx reversal!" she said.

A fiery whirlpool suddenly replaced the magic circles. Elena's attack disappeared through it-

-another whirlpool opened just above her head and her own attack showered down on her head.

"YOW!" she shrieked, ceasing her attack. The pain was overwhelming, so much so that it blinded her. When her sight returned all she could do was shudder at her fatal mistake. Nashi's entire body was glowing a bright golden color from all the magic energy she'd taken in. Her wings were double the size they'd one been. A halo of pink fire surrounded her. In one hand a cackling ball of sparkling crimson shone, in the other she held a twisted, black scythe. Her hair danced above her head amongst the waves of magic power radiating off her. It was truly a sight to behold…

...if you weren't Elena.

Nashi glared at the woman before clapping her hands together. The crimson sparks spread all over the scythe, coating it. Nashi flapped her wings once before diving towards Elena, a loud and furious war cry ringing out from her throat. She swung the scythe at Elena, who could only change herself to be thin as air, though she knew that would do know good. The minute the scythe touched her the sparks coating it began to explode and didn't stop until the weapon had passed through her middle. Nashi wasted no time in raising the weapon over her head and swing downwards, cutting through Elena from the top of her head to her toes, leaving a trail of smoke and shimmering, smoldering sparks behind her.

Elena could only shout as Nashi then cut her from shoulder to shoulder, across the chest, through the abdomen, and then from her waist through to the top of her head. With each slash she gained momentum and picked up speed. The crimson flames coating the scythe also began to burn brighter, hotter, wilder.

"No, no, NO!" Elena screamed, but she knew. There was no way for her to stop this wild child! The attack continued on, masking both the child and the woman in a cloud of smoke. Everyone from inside the hospital could only stare in awe at the sight.

Finally the smoke cleared.

Elena lay shaking upon the ground, burnt and bleeding, unable to move. Nashi stood above her, panting. All her flames were gone, but she was still standing, glowering down at Elena.

"I…" Elena choked. "I...how did I...lose…"

"Because," Nashi answered between pants. "You messed with the wrong guild!"