Yang: Here's the big question to get your minds going: Are tomatoes a fruit or a vegetable?
Freddy: Wasn't this question discussed in Episode 6 of Soul Orb?
Yang: It was?
Freddy: I was once a guest star, remember?
Yang: Right...Okay second question...Why is Raven stuck inside a vacuum cleaner?
Freddy: Wait what?!
Peace: I'm sorry~! I didn't realize she was lying on the floor until I heard the noise!
Gwen: That still doesn't explain why she didn't move out of the vacuum's path?
Freddy: I told her not to sleep there. Her laziness finally got the best of her.
Raven: Just shut up and get me out of here!
Yang: Uh, you can just teleport out of there or just make a portal or something.
Raven: Of course I knew that...Actually it feels comfortable inside here. I think I'll take a nap.
Yang:...You can't use your powers inside a vacuum can you?
Raven:...
Freddy: We'll take your silence as a yes.
Raven:...ZZZ~!
Peace: S-She's actually sleeping~?!
Sanya: Is it comfortable inside a vacuum cleaner?
Freddy: Don't even think about it, Sanya.
Gwen: So while you guys get her out, I'll start the chapter.
Shiho:...What are you guys doing?
Yang: Stuff.
"...G-George!"
Natsu's condition was explained to the Home Team by Happy after he brought him back to the Going Merry. He then flew back with Kuroko teleporting behind him, only to witness a horror sight of George. He laid unconscious in his own pool of blood.
Kuroko quickly teleports beside him and checks the man's pulse. Happy flew close to her staring at George. "Is he going to be okay?"
"...His pulse is a bit weak, but he's alive," Kuroko answered, sighing in relief. "We need to get him back to the Going Merry quickly."
"R-Right," Happy acknowledged. He grabbed the man by his collar and carried him ahead. Kuroko caught a glimpse of the carnage around the area.
"Just what happened to him…?" Kuroko asked herself, a bit concerned. "Whoever he fought, left him in that condition…I hope Sissy's okay."
Chapter 35: Cloning Around.
A pair of Shandian warriors speed through the forest along the Milky Road. They were vigilant of the dangers around them, knowing full well of the Eneru forces along with the Blue Sea Dwellers invading their home land.
"BAH!"
A goat-like man leaped out of a branch towards the two. Before one of them realized it, the Shandian was blasted off the Milky Road and landed on the ground below them.
"You're one of God's Enforcers!" The Shandian declared.
"Co-o-orrect!" He brayed like a goat. "By order of the Almighty Eneru, we've been commanded to purge his enemies from the Upper Ya-a-ard! We are Eneru's Elite! There's no place for you to hide! We possess the power of the Ax Dial, which is not to found in Skypiea!"
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" The warrior roared as he fired his guns three times. The goat soldier swiftly avoided the bullets and flew towards his target.
"Your efforts are futile!" The Kami soldier taunted. "AX DIAL~!"
The Shandian retaliated by raising his shield up. However, in a split second, the ax dial on the palm of his hand was able to slice through the shield and the warrior's stomach. He fell on the ground motionless. The Kami warrior stood behind the two defeated Shandians.
"Oh~! The lands in the south are warm, and their heads get really hot~!"
"You amaze me how you're so carefree in the middle of a warzone," Flamingo commented, with a deadpan expression.
Oblivious to what was going on around him, Luffy was strolling through the forest with a stick slung over his shoulder and singing. Cure Flamingo was tagging behind, looking a bit more cautious of her surroundings.
"They grow a pineapple, they grow a coco-nut," Luffy continued to sing. "AND THEY'RE MOOOROONS!"
"That song sounds so random," Flamingo mumbled under her breath.
"BAHH~!"
The two stopped walking when they heard a sheep blaring sound. They glanced around for the source of the sound. "Huh? Was that a goat?"
"I think that sounds like a sheep," Flamingo thought out loud.
"No, it's a goat~!" Luffy argued.
"It's a sheep!" Flamingo shot back.
"GOAT!"
"SHEEP!"
"GOAT!"
"SHEEP!"
While the two were arguing, they were unaware that the same goat-man that took out the two Shandians, noticed the two. He leaped off the Milky Road and flew down towards them with his ax dial hands extended in front of him.
POW~!
Luffy and Flamingo lash their fists in unison right into the goat-man's face, sending him bouncing off of the trees and landing on the ground KO'd.
"That jerk, he just scared the goat away," Luffy grumbled glaring at the soldier.
"Yeah, now we don't even know if it really was a goat or a sheep," Flamingo agreed also in a foul mood.
"Alright next verse!" Luffy announced, his anger turned cheerful.
"There's more?!" Flamingo comically facefaulted.
"O-Oh the islands in the north are snowy and their heads get really cold! They're very chilly-chilly they're very willy-nilly AND THEY'RE IDIOTS~!"
"Again, that song makes no sense~!" Flamingo comically exclaimed. "But…" The redhead girl sighed, smiling a bit. "It's no wonder Minori is so interested in you."
"What was that?" Luffy asked.
"Oh, um…" Flamingo trailed off before a question popped up. "I'm just curious, is there a history with your straw hat or something?"
"This hat…" Luffy began, his eyes covered by his hair. "Belongs to a pirate I admired when I was young. Hi-."
Luffy stopped talking when he noticed someone in the distance. Flamingo noticed Luffy stopping mid-story and walking. "Luffy what's wro-?"
She looked up to find the Shandian Warrior leader Wyper, standing on a root ahead of them. His signature weapon, the bazooka, behind his back.
"It's you," Luffy noted.
"That's right," Wyper glared at Luffy, "Just what are you still doing here? I warn you to leave this island."
"Shut up! We can do whatever we want!" Luffy snapped.
"No you can't," Wyper growled. "This island belongs to us, the Shandians!"
"I thought this was God's Island," Flamingo mumbled, oddly confused.
"Oh, in that case...Sorry for trespassing," Luffy bowed and then continued walking, singing the next verse of his song.
"Don't just ignore the guy carrying the bazooka!" Flamingo barked comically.
"HOLD IT!" Wyper shouted.
"Now what?!" Luffy asked, annoyed.
"I'm through wasting words on you, and I'm sick of tired of hearing you idiots rambling," Wyper stated while reading his cannon. "So I'm gonna destroy you."
"CAAAW!"
The three looked up and spotted Fuwa flying over them. A familiar figure jumped off the bird and landed behind Flamingo and Luffy. "Yo~!"
"You're from Luminous Tail!?" Flamingo spluttered a bit startled.
"Yup, Dimanu's the name," He introduced. "Kicking ass is my game!"
"That was a cool entrance~!" Luffy stated in awed.
"Focus moron~!" Flamingo dope slapped him.
"Oh great it's you," Wyper clicked his teeth, looking annoyed. "You better not get in my way brat."
Dimanu cracked his knuckles. "As long as I get to pound this woman into the vearth, I'm fine with it."
Flamingo glared at Dimanu and brought her fist up, with a smirk on her face. "Don't underestimate me kid. You'll be the one getting pound into the earth!"
"I see," Luffy said. He tossed his stick and turned towards Wyper. He cracked his knuckles and raised his fist, grinning. "If you wanted to fight, you just had to say so."
Hibiki found herself on the defensive after being blasted back by a copy of Eguchi. White flames surround his hands.
"White flames?" Hibiki asked quietly while swerving her upper body to avoid the flaming fist aimed at her head. She retaliates by swinging her armor fist at the clone's face, but it elbows her gauntlet causing it to miss by an inch. The clone then performed a roundhouse kick with white flames on his feet, shoving her back.
The man swiped his arms unleashing a stream of white flames that melted the bullets with ease. Hibiki witnesses the flames flying towards her and barely dodges by leaning back. She barely noticed him from above and swung his white flaming fist downward. Hibiki backflipped to avoid the punch, the impact and force launched her back a bit.
"I don't have time to deal with this clone, I have to find Kouta," Hibiki declared as she stood up.
"BAH~!"
"Wait a goat?" Hibiki questioned looking around.
Before she realized it, two Kami warriors swiped their Ax Dials towards Eguchi from the back. The clone puffed into smoke and back into a stone.
"BAH~!" One of them announced. "The clones may overwhelm us, but they're easy to take out in one hit~!"
"That's for sure," The second one answered with relief. He then glanced at Hibiki. "Don't relax just yet, there's one of the Blue Sea dwellers here."
"Eh?! Goat people~!?" Hibiki blurted.
"Prepare to die~!" The two Kami warriors lunged at her. Hibiki rushed at both of them, instantly knocking them both out with her fist.
"So how's life treating you Gonta?" Ray asked. He along with Gonta were casually sitting on a branch.
"Gonta became Ultimate Elite," The big man replied. "Gonta: Ultimate Entomologist."
"I'm proud of you man~!" Ray cheerfully said while patting Gonta's back. "I'm glad they didn't kill you or anything."
"Gonta is very useful, so Gonta doesn't think they would get rid of me," Gonta blushed a bit.
"Well you never know with Crimson Blood's other Elites," Ray warned. "Some could stab you in the back."
"Gonta trust friends," He said determinedly.
"Hey, you can trust them all you want, I don't care," Ray answered. "I mean you shouldn't be trusting pirates that easily."
"Oh, sorry," Gonta sighed.
"Man, you're such a wimp," Ray declared laughing. "Men like us shouldn't say sorry that easily."
"HA~!" Erza cried out after slicing another clone in half. She and Lovely were dwindling the number of clones down to size, however the rest of the clones weren't going down so easily.
After destroying a clone of Dimanu, Erza was engaged in sword combat with a clone of Tsubasa. She swiped her katana in a quick motion. "They can even replicate their weapons?"
The two continued their swordsman assault until the two disbursed. Once she found an opening, she landed an uppercut into Tsubasa's chin, defeating the clone once it landed on the ground.
Meanwhile Lovely had just dodged Gajeel's iron sword attack, and plowed her fist into his guts, causing Gajeel to puff in smoke. She then noticed a Shandian Kamakiri behind her, thrusting his spear at her head. She swerved her body and kicked the spear out of his hands. Once he was unarmed, Lovely swung her fist aiming at the Shandian clone, however she wasn't expecting it to bring his shield to block the punch.
"Lovely Beam~!" Lovely fired a pink laser piercing the shield and the clone's chest defeating it.
"Die, Precure scum!"
Alarmed by the unexpected voice, Lovely turned around only to be met with a purple sharp coated fist aimed at her face and launched her towards Erza. She noticed her and quickly caught Lovely, but was tumbled into the ground.
"Lovely~! Are you okay?" Erza cried out, and noticed her body was burning up. She was breathing heavily as a small cut on her cheek glowed. "She's burning up, but how?"
"That's my venom," Erza turned to find Jayden walking over towards the two. The remaining clones slowly stepped back, giving them space. "One small cut will bring anyone on the brink of death in a few minutes."
"You bastard," Erza said, glaring at him. She set Lovely down at a safe distance and faced him.
"Now, do you think it's wise to challenge me?" Jayden questioned. "Your friend is fighting to stay alive. I did say that she has a few minutes to live. Unless you can beat me before that happens."
"That's enough time to take you down~!" Erza declared. She rushed towards Jayden requiping her armor into her Black Wing Armor.
"Venom Demon Iron Fist~!" With the light purple substance surrounding his fist, Jayden met halfway and collided with Erza's sword. Erza used the opportunity to bring her sword pushing Jayden's fist as well and swing her leg aimed at Jayden's chest. It looked like a direct hit, however Jayden brought his other left hand to block and grab hold of her foot. Jayden twists Erza's foot, causing her to cringe, but she holds it and twists her body to free herself.
"Moon Flash~!" In a blink of an eye, Erza was behind Jayden slashing him in a cross-like pattern. Jayden gritted his teeth refraining himself from shouting pain.
"Not bad, but I can do better," Jayden declared. He turned around, emitting a magic circle in front of him, unleashing multiple small dark purple orbs towards him. "Venom Demon's Cobra Spray~!"
"Requip~!" Erza's body glowed revealing her Flight Armor. She charged through the bombardment of hovering orbs. "Sonic Claw~!" With tremendous speed she slashes through them with ease with her twin swords. Once she was close to Jayden she crossed her swords preparing to attack.
"Venom Demon Acid Armor!" Jayden's body was coated with purple acid, the liquid then hardened into crystals, and used it to catch Erza's twin blade strike, and shattered both swords in his hands. Before Erza could retaliate, Jayden slammed his head into Erza's. Due to his body coat of hardened acid, the headbutt did tremendous damage to Erza, causing her to stagger back a bit. Jayden wasn't going to give her another chance and delivered a kick into her chest launching her a few feet, but she recovered herself.
"He's not an opponent I should be taking lightly," Erza declared to herself.
"You're not so bad yourself," Jayden answered, like she knew what she was saying. "No wonder Simon thought highly of you."
Before Erza could question him, she caught a glimpse of Akita kneeling towards Lovely. "Hey, you get away from her~!"
"Calm down Titania," Jayden said, deactivating his Acid Armor. "She ain't going to do anything to harm the scumbag."
Enraged by his insult, Erza was already in front of Jayden glaring at him. "I advise you to refrain from insulting my friend like that."
"...Make me," Jayden retaliated, glaring back with the same tone as her. Normally anyone, whether be friend or foe would shiver when Erza gets angry. However, the boy had a similar threatening glare, holding against Titania's.
"P-Please stop fighting you two~!" Akita pleaded loudly. "I'm just trying to heal your friend a bit."
"Heal?" Erza questioned as she walked over to her. She noticed some grass from the ground was wrapping around Lovely's head, like a bandage.
Akita placed both of her hands on the grass between Lovely's head. "Aromatherapy."
The grass around her head glowed a faint light. The splotches of venom that were growing around her head vanished along with the cut on her cheeks. Erza appeared shocked by all the poison. 'She's just like Wendy?'
"Did she use healing magic…?" Erza asked.
"Healing yes, magic no," Jayden answered as he sat cross-legged. "Akita and I used to be normal humans. Until Crimson Blood sent that bastard to our village."
Erza's eyes widened with shock. "You two are...members of Crimson Blood?"
"We weren't members, we were experiment rats," Jayden replied. "They turned us into artificial demons. Mine wasn't that bad, but Akita...Those bastards force her Devil Fruit down her throat, while implanting some drug that turns her into a demon."
Hearing this made Erza clenched her fist. Imagine a young girl like her screaming in pain as they play with her body. 'So Luminous Tail are refugees escaping from Crimson Blood. Those scumbags don't have any morals do they?'
"Done," Akita stood up, wiping her forehead with her arm. "I-I was able to take all the venom out of her body. However, she still has a fever and needs to rest."
"See?" Jayden got to his feet. "No need to go ape shit over a Precure scum,"
Erza glared at the boy as he walked away. Akita went near Erza and bowed to her. "I apologize for what my brother did to your friend. He's not a bad person honestly. He just has a strong hatred for Pretty Cures...ever since one of them killed our parents."
Before Erza could answer, Jayden interrupted. "Hey Aki, hurry up or I'll leave you here alone~!"
"C-Coming~!" Akita answered flustered. She ran up to her brother, leaving Erza and Lovely alone with the clones.
Even the Going Merry wasn't safe from the army of clones. Right after Happy and Kuroko return with George, the clones of Tropical Rouge Precure invade the Going Merry and engage a few of them in battle. Sanji was knocked out instantly after one of the clones kicked him in the private area. Last Order, Index, Awatsuki, Nami (dragging the unconscious Sanji,) Gan Fall, and Yuko went to the bottom deck.
Usopp was sent flying by a Flamingo clone's heavy punch. He was still conscious but freaked out as Flamingo prepared to land another punch. "AYIEE~! DON'T HURT ME~!"
Flamingo's wrist was suddenly wrapped by a blue and yellow flame whip; Fleuve d'étoiles. Flamingo turned to find Lucy, holding her ground. "Gotcha~!"
Grinning, the clone did one tug causing Lucy to comically fly forward. Flamingo raised her fist aiming towards Lucy's skull.
"Exploding Star~!"
A black pellet exploded when it came into contact with Flamingo's head. This caused the clone to freeze in place, her fist coming close to Lucy's head. Flamingo then collapsed on the deck KO'd into a puff of smoke.
"Thanks Usopp," Lucy panted in relief. Usopp responds with a grin and thumbs up.
Elsewhere on the Going Merry, Kinoko and Shervan were dealing with the clones of Papaya and Coral.
"Pixel-Make: Bazooka~!" Kinoko summoned a large bazooka and fired a red beam of light towards Papaya who retaliated with her Papaya beam. The two were evenly matched when the beams collided creating an explosion. The orange Precure clone leaped up in the air, and fired another beam out of her eyes.
"Pixel Make: Crossbow~!" Kinoko summoned a pixel like a crossbow and fired two arrows. One counters the beam and another pierces the clone Papaya in the head. Kinoko grinned watching the clone fall into the ocean. "Booyah~!"
Shervan stood silently as the clone Coral wildly attacked him with her fists, which only phased through his wind-like body. He then dashed forward engulfing his fist with wind.
Clone Coral jumped back and quickly summoned an X shield, causing Shervan's fist to make contact with it. Unfortunately for the clone, Shervan increased the wind in his arms to destroy the shield and landed a solid blow to Coral's head. To Usopp and Lucy's cringed, his fist drilled through her head causing the purple Precure to vanish into smoke.
"Even if it's a clone, that's a bit too morbid," Usopp mumbled.
"He's been acting weird ever since Happy brought Natsu here," Lucy said concerning. When Happy returned with Natsu, she was horrified to discover Natsu's condition and how he was almost killed by the Ultimate Assassin. Hearing this caused Shervan to act emotionless and stunned until the clones invaded.
"Way to go, Shervan~!" Kinoko cheered.
Shervan turned towards the three looking confused. "W-What just happened…?"
"You're kidding right?" Lucy questioned. "We were attacked by clones and you just punched one that looked like Cure Coral in the head."
"I-I did?" Shervan blurted out startled. "I-I'll have to apologize t-to her l-later."
"...I don't think he's faking that shock," Usopp whispered to Lucy. "It's like he was in a trance."
"Do you think it's the same one Touma mentioned?" Lucy questioned in a silent tone. Recalling how he almost destroyed Satori's ship.
"Now that's just leaves Cure Summer," Kinoko announced.
"Dang it~!" The four noticed Summer sulking with the clone looking proud and superior.
"Summer are you okay?" Lucy asked in shock.
"Yeah, I just lost to my clone in a rock paper scissors match," Summer pouted.
"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME~!?" Lucy, Usopp and Kinoko exclaimed with shark teeth.
"Okay best five out of three~!" Summer declared.
"JUST PUNCH HER DUMBASS~!" The three ordered.
"I won't until I win this fight~!" Summer protested. She and the clone brought their arms together. Now...Rock...Paper...Scissor~!"
The duo Summer brought their fists down. While the clone had rock, Summer had paper. "YAY~! I WON~!"
The clone Summer went down to her hands and knees and sulked. "Hey you didn't lose yet, you still have two more wins to g~"
"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE~!" Kinoko comedically kicked the clone Summer off the ship, startling the real one.
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT~!" Summer comedically cried.
"WE DON'T HAVE ANY TIME TO BE PLAYING ROCK PAPER SCISSOR WITH A DUMB CLONE~!?" Kinoko shouted back comedically.
"W-Well...it's safe for the others to come out," Shervan said nervously.
"Huh?"
Cynthia slowly opened her eyes and saw herself lying in a dark abyss, with the sky burning red. "Where...am I?"
"Welcome…"
Cynthia turned to find a girl the same age but her figure was silhouette. "Who are yo-?"
"I recommend you watch your tone."
Her eyes widen when she notices a sword right at her neck. Behind her is a person with long black hair and red eyes that glow in the dark. Not wanting to get killed, Cynthia clamps her mouth shut. The girl resumed. "I am here because you possessed a portion of my power from defeating my commander."
'Commander...you mean that cobra monster works for her?' Cynthia thought in her head.
"This energy you've obtained will dictate your fate…" She explained. "Support your friends by disposing of others...That's the path of my subordinates."
"What?!" Dark red flames erupted around her body. This causes the black hair girl to pull back her sword, calmly but it wasn't fear. "Look here lady, I don't understand who you are but I will not work for y-"
"Who said you were working for me?"
"Huh?" Cynthia blinked.
"I only indicated that you're my subordinate because of my energy infused within you," She rephrased. "I have no intention of giving you commands...Or gaining vengeance for destroying that fool."
Cynthia felt the impulse to attack her. However despite the ferocious atmosphere and aura surrounding the woman, her words and tone sound genuine and harmless. Also she noticed ten more silhouettes surrounding the woman. "Who...are you?"
'All explain in due time. In the meantime, you should return back to consciousness,' The woman answered. "Before you leave though, you mustn't reveal anybody about the occurrences you got yourself involved in with that Houndour in addition to the energy inside your body."
"Why?" Cynthia asked loudly. Her breathing increased intensively, and she felt her body emitting black vapor. "A-Agh~!"
"Doing so will lead to your tombstones," She sharply responded. "Like it or not, my energy is inside your body, and if I sense that I've been deceived, I'll force the energy to kill you, and I'll ensure your friends watch you suffer."
The woman snapped her fingers and in an instant, Cynthia felt her body temperature returning to normal. She was startled by the immediate change and felt frightened by the woman in front of her. She didn't trust her, but she doesn't want to test her threat.
"F-Fine, I'll keep your secret…" Cynthia spat out irritated. "However, if you ever harm a hair on my friends he-"
"I'll pay with my life?"
Cynthia was stunned speechless as the woman ended her sentence. The woman let out a light chuckle. "I'm very aware of the vague friendship ploy...be at ease, I won't be meddling in your quest…Speaking of which you should return back."
Before Cynthia could ask, her mind went blank by the sound of her snapping her fingers.
Upon waking up, Cynthia found herself near Wendy and Charla. The two were intensely staring at something, their eyes widened in horror. Once Cynthia followed their gaze her eyes did the same.
Kaito and Eguchi were locked in a merciless hand-to-hand combat. The shockwaves caused by each strike echoed throughout the clearing and they were not showing any signs of exhaustion.
"W-What's going on here?" Hearing her voice Wendy and Charla ripped their eyes off the fight and stared at Cynthia.
"Cynthia~! You're alright~!?" Wendy asked.
"I'm alright for now," Cynthia winced.
"How did you get in that condition?!" Charla questioned.
"I…" Cynthia hesitated recalling the woman's threat. "I...was fighting a powerful monster that was trailing on me when we separated. He was tough, but I beat him."
Their conversation was disrupted by another clash of strength between the two men. Eguchi and Kaito unleash a haymack into each other's jaws, both of them being dragged back by the force.
"I just don't get it," Gajeel grumbled. He was observing Touma suspiciously while they trekked across the forest. "How can a scrawny punk like you attract so many girls? "
"It's not like I want girls to fall for me," Touma retorted, a bit annoyed. "It just happens…"
"According to Misaka and Index, you tend to 'play the hero' in dire situations," Marie informed. "And you have the tendency to wind up in the hospital injured."
"I guess, but still..." Touma mumbled.
"Even with that right hand of his, I can't imagine a twerp like him to beat Accelerator," Gajeel grumbled.
"To be quite frank, Accelerator only relied on his power to take on his opponents," Touma said, thinking back. "Even with my right hand, he was able to manipulate plasma, dust explosions, and fling crowbars at me."
Tsubasa stopped in her tracks, feeling something was off. She quickly brought her katana on instinct in front of Touma. "Tsubasa what are you-!?"
On cue a certain pink haired boy flew towards her, his flaming fist crashed into her katana. This got the rest of the group's attention when Tsubasa skidded back from the force, and were stunned when they saw who attacked her.
"Is that...Natsu!?" Juvia exclaimed.
"I knew he was a battle brute, but why is he attacking us?!" Marie questioned.
"That ain't him," Gajeel responded, his arms turning into an iron sword. "If it were, I would have mentioned it to you guys."
"Wait, so he's a clone?" Wannai realized.
Before Gajeel could answer, he quickly formed his iron club and blocked a sword that was aiming at Levy.
"G-Gajeel~!" Levy cried out.
"A Zoro clone too?!" Touma declared in shock. Gajeel grunted as he overpowered the clone swordsman, causing him to jump back.
"Ice Make Lance~!" Gray launches shards of ice lances towards the clone Zoro. The clone used the three swords slashing the shards with ease.
"Juvia look out!" Chris suddenly called out. She brought her bow up, as a duel of incoming feet of flames and wind came into contact. The force launched her and Juvia into a tree.
"Wendy and Cynthia too?!" Wannai blurted out, startled to find the clone duo glaring at her. Before they could attack them, they leapt back to avoid a stream of water from Juvia.
"Guess when we passed out, one of the members of Luminous Tail might've got some new ammo," Lily declared, bringing his sword out.
Touma sensed something was off, and before he knew it, a sword flew out of the bush aiming at his neck.
"Solid Script Iron~!" A large IRON poof out in front of Touma blocking the sword. The sword came from none other than Erza Scarlet.
"Thanks Levy," Touma said with a note of relief.
"They even got Erza as well?" Tsubasa said, a bit surprised. The group found themselves surrounded by the clones of Natsu, Zoro, Wendy, Cynthia, and Erza.
"Where are they coming from?" Chris asked while aiming her crossbows at them.
"...I can smell the one responsible close by," Gajeel declared, glancing at the direction behind Zoro and Erza clones. "They're trying to distract us with these clones while they make their escape."
"In that case, I should go on ahead," Touma volunteered. "The clones are probably bothering the others in the Upper Yard. If I can touch the one responsible, then it might make it easier for them."
"It's best if we came along as well," Gray said as he and Juvia went with Touma. "Since you have a habit of breaking your bones fighting, I'll be the one to take the clone person down."
"Juvia will help my beloved Gray," Juvia nodded in agreement.
"Yeah sure…" Touma mumbled with a sweatdropped.
"Chris, you go help them, and take Wannai with you," Tsubasa ordered.
"Right whatever," Chris retorted as she and Wannai joined the three. The five made a break for it trying, rushing past the two swordsman clones. Zoro and Erza were about to chase after them but quickly turned around to block Tsubasa and Gajeel; Tsubasa parried Zoro, and Gajeel Iron Dragon Sword blocking Erza's.
"You're fighting us Mosshead," Gajeel taunted.
"Go we'll hold them off~!" Tsubasa called out.
"Right, be careful~!" Touma yelled out while running.
After running so far, the five slowed their pace, but trekked with extreme caution. They knew that the ones responsible for the clones were nearby.
"I hope the others are okay," Touma said, a bit worried. "Natsu, Erza, and Zoro are strong, and watching Wendy and Cynthia figh-."
"They can handle them," Gray interrupted his train of thought. "They're clones after all, they aren't as strong as the original."
"...!" Suddenly Chris felt a palm smacking her butt, causing her to squeak in shock. She turned to Gray who was behind her, "What's wrong Chris?"
"You…" Chris growled her face completely red. Without warning she sock the Ice-Mage in the face. "FUCKEN PERVERT~!"
"Argh~!" Gray grunted as he stumbled back from the punch. He then barked at Chris with shark teeth. "W-What the hell did I do now~!?"
"Cut the crap~! You just slapped my buttock~!" Chris accused.
"Buttock...?" Gray repeated oddly.
"Who in the right mind would say buttocks?" Touma asked with a sweatdrop.
"W-Why Gray?" Juvia comically cried, in envy. "Why didn't you spank my buttocks~!"
"That's not the important issue here! And don't just say buttocks because she said it!" Touma comically snapped.
"I told you I didn't touch your butto- I mean butt!" Gray quickly corrected himself.
"Cut the crap, Perv!" Chris yelled angrily. "You were right behind me~! Who else but you?!"
SLAP~! SLAP~!
"Ep~!" Wannai squealed, grabbing everyone's attention. "S-Someone just touched my butt~!"
"M-Mine too," Juvia gushed out dreamily. "Gray you naughty boy~!"
"How can I do that when I'm over here~?!" Gray cried out. A blur flew past him, and prompted Gray to cringe. "S-See! I felt it too~!"
"If it wasn't Gray then was it some kind of bug bite?" Touma asked nervously.
"No, it felt like someone's palm hit my butt," Chris argued.
In an instant a glass cracking sound startled everyone as a blur flew behind Touma. Yozura was the intruder who was touching their butts. Her eyes widened in disbelief not only from the sound of Imagine Breaker going off, but she found herself exposed to the others.
Before anyone could react, Yozura dashed past everyone in a blur to their naked eyes. Chris finally shook off her dumbstruck face. "Well don't just stand there like morons, after her~!"
Yozura was trying to escape the five, after her plan of cloning the boy failed. "What was that?...The moment I touched him, I couldn't get a good image in my head."
She took out some objects; a Dial, a tip of the spear, and a stone. "My magic...no curse is able to turn any object I touch into a clone of that person. But I have to touch them to get a copy of them. Photocopy: 4x~!"
A small magic circle appeared on the palm of her hand, causing the three objects to glow. She threw the objects towards, summoning a copy of Gray, Chris and Juvia. "I order you three to ambush anyone who follows me."
The three nodded their heads and went the opposite way, facing the group. "The clones aren't that powerful on their own, they can be taken out with a certain amount of force. But multiple could stall the opponent."
Yozura winced as she clenched her stomach. She then began coughing in her mouth, a bit of blood dripping. 'T-This is bad...the after effects of this curse are already kicking in...I already created so many clones to distract the Kami warriors and Blue Sea Dwellers. I need to keep these guys at bay. I don't want to disappoint Moses.'
Touma, Gray, Wannai, Juvia, and Chris continue their pursuit of the ninja clone-maker. Their outcome led them to an open area.
However, the moment they reached the area, they weren't aware of a Gray clone perching on the branch, until it leaped downward. It constructed a large ice hammer and swung it down towards them.
"Touma look out!" Wannai called out. Being at the front of the attack, Touma extended his right hand above and the moment the Ice Hammer made contact, it vanished.
However just as he canceled the hammer, two more Gray clones unleashed a barrel of lances flying towards him.
Gray dashed in front of Touma in his molding stance. "Ice Make: Wall~!" He yelled and created a large wall of ice, protecting him and the others from the bombarded ice lances.
"Damn she's able to clone one person multiple times?" Chris clicked her teeth.
Two Chris clones landed on top of the ice wall, aiming its crossbow at them and unleashed a torrent of glowing red arrows at them.
"Split up~!" Gray yelled out. The group quickly separated to avoid the arrows; Juvia, and Wannai on the left, Gray, Chris and Touma on the right.
Yozura rests herself behind one of the large trees, catching her breath. She then coughs up a huge amount of blood. "I-I'm losing too much blood fast...but I have to stay conscious. I… I don't want to fail Moses and the others."
"Ice Make: Knuckles~!" Gray summoned a magic circle beneath a clone army of Juvias, and launched multiple fists made out of ice. Several of them were shot into the air but then puffed into smoke when they stopped. "One Juvia is enough than-GAH~!"
One of the Chris clones struck the Ice-Make user in the back with a kick. He stumbled onto his knee as the artillery woman aimed her crossbow at his head. Before the clone had a chance to pull the trigger a fist slammed into her cheek, instantly destroying the clone.
"You okay?" Touma asked, lending his hand.
"Yeah, only a minor scratch," Gray answered, offering his hands to help him up. "Don't think I'm falling for you just because you saved me."
"Shut up," Touma retorted. He quickly thrust his hand out, blocking a clone Juvia's streams of water.
Chris was busy weaving through a clone of Wannai's streams of water. Once she found an opening, Chris fired three red arrows into its stomach, causing it to vanish. She let out a sigh of relief only to quickly duck from Gray's ice sword, and fired an arrow at its stomach. "How the hell is she still able to build so many clones?!"
"Water Slicer~!" Juvia swipes her arm unleashing scythe-like blades of water. The blades cleaved through every clone minus her own kind which absorbed the water. In response, the clones fired a focused beam of water from their hands.
"Water Body," While the beams struck Juvia, it only phased through her body as a result of her entire body being made of water.
Three beams flew past her, targeting Wannai. She held her arms out in front, causing the beams to stop in place. Three clones of herself ran towards her with their fists covered in water. Using the water beams, she swerved them around her and fired them at clones of herself. She winced when the beams pierced the clones in the neck. Wannai noticed Juvia stepping looking conflicted. "W-What's wrong Juvia?"
"T-This is such a cruel fate for Juvia!" She comically wept while staring at an army of clone Grays. "J-Juvia can't harm Gray, e-even it t-they are clones."
As captivated as she was by the clones, she failed to notice that a Gray clone fired an ice saucer toward her. She was shoved to the ground by Wannai just in time as the ice saucer crashed into the tree behind them.
"Are you okay Juvia?" Wannai asked.
"Y-yeah, I'm sorry for spacing out. It's just so hard to attack my beloved," Juvia muttered depressingly. Wannai noticed how the others were able to destroy some of the clones, but the numbers were overwhelming them.
'She a water mage, then maybe…' Wannai thought for a second until she had an idea.
"Juvia, let's try to take them all out with one attack," Wannai suggested.
"One attack, you mean an unison raid?" Juvia asked.
The water esper nodded. "I'm able to manipulate water with my esper abilities. If we combine our powers, we might be able to wipe the clones out in one full swoop."
"..Okay," The water mage nodded and held Wannai's hand.
The two closed their eyes, concentrating their powers, and a second later created a large ring of water surrounding them, blasting any of the clones trying to attack the duo. The water ring swirled around aggressively in a rapid motion.
"HUAH~!" With a loud battle cry, the water wielders extended their arms toward the army of clones, launching a large current of water at them, flooding the entire area. Chris, Gray and Touma were able to avoid the attack when they saw the current sweep away the clones they were dealing with.
Yozura was startled when she saw waves of water rising toward her. She quickly leapt away to avoid them. However it exposed herself to the others.
"There she is~!" Touma called out.
"Good, time to end this~!" Gray declared. Immediately after his hand touched the current, the water froze over, forming a large slope toward the tree. Yozura managed to avoid getting her feet stuck, but was trapped at the top of the slope.
"I guess you aren't that terrible pervert," Chris complimented the ice. She then summoned her missile launchers on her waist and unleashed twenty four missiles at the same time. They all flow towards the top of the ice slope.
"AH*! Seeing the missile aimed at her, Yozura was panicking, and quickly ducked. However her footing slipped and found herself sliding down. Only avoiding one missile by an inch or two.
BOOM~!
Large explosions ranged down, forcing the four to cover their eyes. The top of the ice slope shattered instantly as pieces of it fell.
"...That was a bit overkill," Touma muttered silently, noticing the impact the four led to capture one person. A few small shards of ice rain down as Yozura slid down stomach first in front of the five. The second she lifted her head up, the redhaired ninja quickly saw two pairs of murderous female eyes glaring at her.
"You will pay for touching my husband's buttocks," Juvia snided darkly.
"If you try anything funny, then I'll send an arrow through your head," Chris threatened.
"I…" Yozura interrupted by a fit of coughing, released much more blood from her mouth. "...Won't surrender…" Chris was startled by so much blood she was hacking out, that she lowered her weapon causing the clone user to struggle to her feet. "M-Moses is relying on m-me...I can't f-fail."
"Wait, just calm down," Touma pleaded.
"I will keep fighting~!" Yozura yelled out. She was just about to swing her fist at Touma, but Yozura lost her footing due to the ice and fell forward, striking her head on the boy's stomach. Touma felt all the wind leave his body as the two collapsed onto the icy ground.
"Are you two alright?" Wannai asked worriedly.
"I...think so," Touma muttered between breaths.
Yozura's eyes slowly opened as her body was met by his. Her brain racked up the situation she was in and once it all came together, her entire body turned red. "Boy...chest...too close...must escape...but feel nice!"
With her brain overloaded and steam emitting from her head, Yozura passed out into Touma's arms. Her eyes turned to swirls and her nose was bleeding.
"...What's wrong with her?" Chris asked, staring at her condition.
"She probably passed out due to losing too much blood," Touma answered oblivious of his actions.
"So...this is the power of the Kamiya disease," Gray taunted with a smirk.
"Eh?" Touma blinked.
"Please stay away from Juvia," Juvia shuddered, taking a step back. "I only have eyes for one man."
"Eh, you're really trying to make a harem?" Chris teased, also smirking.
"Don't you even dare~!" Touma barked annoyed. "Two people are already accusing me of having a harem, I don't need mo-."
COUGH COUGH~!
Their focus turned to Wannai who collapsed on her knees, hunched over. Juvia went towards her, "Wannai? What's wrong?"
When Juvia caught sight of Wannai, she gasped horrified. Blood was trailed from both her eyes and mouth.
"W-What's...going on…" Wannai faintly asked before collapsing unconscious under her own pool of blood.
"W-WANNAI~!"
Resting on a tree branch, Moses had noticed the clones that were distracting the Kami warriors, abruptly vanished simultaneously.
"As anticipated she failed," Moses sighed harshly. "Though I commend her for weakening the enemy's forces for the picking."
Raven: Ah~! That was a great nap.
Yang: How you were able to sleep inside a vacuum cleaner, is beyond me.
Raven: It's actually quite peaceful and comfy with the dust bunnies.
Freddy: Stop tempting Sanya into sleeping in there.
Sanya: Gwen is already inside it...no fair.
Peace: S-Seriously?!
Varvula: Come on, we just got one person out already~!
Shiho: Next time on DELTA: Sky Battle: Zoro vs Braham.
Freddy: We should be setting a much better example for readers~!
Yang: Dude, no one is going to care about us stuffing a kid inside a vacuum cleaner.
Gwen: Would you guys shut up? I'm trying to have a séance with some bats here.
Raven: How in the hell are you doing a séance in the vacuum cleaner?!