Hi, guys ! Like I said last time, I'm here to translate the French chapter before switching between them. So here I am for the 3rd chapter.
Now it's battle time ! I hope you won't find my OCs too OP, it's not the point for them to be. But since this is my first time using them so I hope you'll liked them.
I wish you a good reading ! Enjoy !
I don't own Fairy Tail !
"Thoughts"
Moves / Spell
Chapter 3 : The Whispering Forest
/- Magnolia -/
The Head Quarter of Fairy Tail was strangely quiet, considering the number of mages. Since Sting, Lyon, Kagura and Natsu had left for Karista to lead the investigation at the request of the council, and more exactly of Warrod and Jura, the members of Mermaid Heel, Sabertooth and Lamia Scale had decided to stay in town until the others return, especially as there was a risk that this business can be more complicated that a simple investigation in a restaurant. But in spite of these uncertainties as for the future, everybody seemed to live their life as if there was no problem. Makarov sat as usual on the bar, together with the other guild masters. Lucy was also by the bar talking with Yukino and Mirajane, the Sabertooth mage being particularly worried.
- " I hope that everything goes well for them. " Began the white haired celestial mage, frowning. " I admit that I am afraid. What if they came back wounded … or worse ? "
- " You worry too much. " said Lucy, trying to reassure her friend. " They are more than able to take care of themselves. Also, they've seen worse than a restaurant owner as a threat. "
- " I have to admit that I am surprised. I would have thought that you would be more worried than that for Natsu, Lucy " Mirajane had said that hoping to get a reaction out of Lucy, as a stammering or a blushing, any sign of embarrassment, but she got neither of them.
- " I'll care about him when he'll care for the others. " Spat Lucy, taking the mages around her by surprise. Apparently, the incident of the festival (the fight AND the words which have hurt Happy) was hard to swallow for her.
- "Don't you think you're exaggerating a little, no? " Levy began, trying to reason the stellar mage. " For the fight, I can understand, but he didn't wanted to hurt Happy . "
- "If he paid more attention to the others, that would have not happened. "
- " Please children, calm down. Let us wait for they return before solving those problems. " Makarof intervened to make sure the situation doesn't worsen, before keeping on with a smile. " Then again, to them 4, they accumulate a great quantities of power. I am sure that it will be a cakewalk for them."
/- Karista -/
NEEDLE SWEEP !
Except that the cakewalk was sweeping this great power with a fir tree. Literally, because the mages had to evade one more time a whole fir tree, needles bristled like an hedgehog, that Vincenzo began handling as a huge feather duster.
ICE MAKE: EAGLE!
Lyon created his eagles, which rushed at Vincenzo from everywhere around him. But it was not enough. Vincenzo raised hands to the sky, bamboo surging out of earth all at once.
BAMBOO JAVELIN !
The plants took off from the ground, destroying the eagles. Out of the corner of his eyes, the Strizer saw Sting who began rushing towards him, fists coat with magic. He then pulled down his hands, which still pointed to the sky, in the direction of the white dragon, the bamboo, still in the air, followed its movements and crashed on the poor dragon which was stopped clear in its sprint.
WOOD CANNON !
He joined his hands, an enormous cannon makes of wood forming over it and pointing it towards Kagura. He opened fire, the stream of green energy heading straight towards her, who evaded and used her magic to get suddenly closer to Vincenzo. She stabbed him with the point of her sword, always in its sheath, but Vincenzo had time to slightly avoid the blow thanks to an armor of bark but which broke on impact. Kagura tried to struck him again, but she was faced with something she couldn't have predict: Archenemy wasn't in her hands anymore. The time for her to understand what happened, she was knocked from behind by a root. Vince recovered from the blow carried by Kagura and changed his hand into a wooden pistol topped with leaves which began to shine.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS GUN !
He opened fire on Kagura at point-blank range, making rain a salvo of bright bullet on the mage, sending her back on several meters.
" Light ? He used the leaves to absorb the power of the sunlight? " Whereas Kagura had this reflection, Natsu appeared, transported by Happy, rushing straight ahead towards the Strizer at a blinding speed.
KARYU NO TEKKEN !
Natsu launched his attack, but it does not reach the good target. Instead of striking his opponent, he punched a cactus which had just grown in front of him. And besides suffering due to the needles impaling his hand, some water burst out of the cactus, putting out his flames.
- " What? " Natsu did not have time to end his sentence that he was thrown behind by a thick swarm of razor leaves, joining his companions.
- " I suppose that you did not know that cactus are filled with water, isn't it Natsu? And concerning your sword, Kagura, here it is. " Indicated Vincenzo, pointing to a vine next to him, holding Archenemy. But Kagura seemed more intrigued by another detail.
- " Waits. How do you know our names? "
- " I … No. WE know much more than simply your names, signorina Mikazuchi. " Hearing that guy saying her surname took her by surprise, but not as much as what was going to follow.
- " Kagura Mikazuchi. Lived alone with her older brother Simon in Rosemary's village. Survived, thanks to Erza Scarlett, to the 'raid' which leads his brother to the tower of paradise. You dedicated a big part of your life in finding your brother then later to kill Jellal Fernandez, the person who was responsible of his death. " While Kagura couldn't shook off the shock of him knowing so much of her life, Vincenzo turned to Lyon.
- "Lyon Vastia. Learned ice magic with Ur along Gray Fullbuster. Blinded by your need to surpass your master, you went so far as to try to bring the devil Deliora back to life to, according to you, succeed where she failed. As for you two, Sting Eucliffe and Natsu Dragneel, you have the same kind of story. You are born orphans more than 400 years ago, trained by dragons and sent to the future via the door of Eclipse. And there is also the fact that Natsu is, oh sorry, WAS, one of Zeref's demon, E.N.D., the most powerful of them all. We know many things about you all. We came to test you after all. Although for my first time as a spy, I did not expect to be sucked in the middle of a free-for-all." He ended his sentence by replacing these glasses with his thumb, under the confused then shocked eyes of the mages.
- "You spied on us yesterday, during the party. But why? What do you want in the end?" Required Kagura.
- "Sorry, mia bella, but you'll have to show us what you all got if you want to know the truth."
Suddenly, a white flash blinded him just for a second and when his eyes were once again working well, he got barely enough time to intercept Sting. They found themselves in a struggle of strength, trying to get the upper hand over the other. Vincenzo, equipped with wooden claws, slowly got the upper hand, little by little.
- "Don't try, the dragon. You will win not at this small game."
- "Who told you that I wanted to win?"
The time to understand what Sting wanted to say, Vincenzo was clawed on his back. Releasing the dragon, he turned around and saw Lector, who began clawing at him like a tiger. The Strizer, taken by surprise, couldn't do much except trying to evade the blows. So, Lyon, Sting and Natsu were able to counter-attack.
HAKURYU NO HOKO !
Sting unleashed his breath on his opponent, who was throw back, exactly where Lyon wanted him.
ICE MAKE: APE!
The enormous monkey made of ice struck him with its two fists, sandwiching him. When the fists finally moved away, it was to give open a way for Natsu, whose arms were covered with flames.
KARYU NO YOKUGEKI !
He caught Vincenzo, sending flying in the air and crash several meters away. After Lector gave her sword back to Kagura, the 2 dragons rushed at Vincenzo, assisted by their respective Exceeds, who released them above the Strizer, Lector joining Sting whereas Happy stood back.
RAMMING TRUNKS !
2 trunks appeared all of a sudden from the ground behind Vincenzo, the first one swept Natsu away but thanks to Lector, Sting evaded the second and they began exchanging blows with plants manipulator, who got great difficulty in defending himself, not being an expert in close combat without a weapon, under the eyes of the other mages, amazed by their teamwork.
- " Wow ! So cool ! I want to do it too ! " Natsu observed the fight with stars in his eyes, not noticing that his words hurt Happy, unlike Vincenzo who noticed it in the corner of his eye. Back to Sting, the white dragon took advantage of a moment of calm offered by Lector, who held back Vincenzo as much as possible, to prepare an attack.
HOLY RAY !
Vincenzo got rid of Lector, but just a little too late. He received Sting's attack dead on and was throw back a good 20 meters away, but he recovered rather fast, a knee on the ground while he got his breath back. When he finally got up, he had an almost satisfied smile on his face.
- "Well played. Really well played." He said under his breath, wiping some blood off his mouth.
- "It seems like hand-to-hand fight is not your cup of tea, cook." Caused Lector, drawing the attention of the Strizer which did not deny.
- "You could say that I'm not a specialist at this. I admit it."
- "There is something that I don't understand." Lyon said. "If we are your target, why you did not poison our meal?"
Vincenzo's face twisted itself in an expression of disgust, as if Lyon had just said an atrocity.
- "2 reasons. The first one, it is that we have to test you and it is not by poisoning you that we can do it.", Vincenzo began, before starting again, his expression a lot more bitter. "The second, it's that in my family, food is as holy as God himself. My life and my family always revolved around the kitchen, there is at least half of my family who have restaurants. So, even if it is the simplest way to kill somebody, I would never poison his food. Then again, I am one of the only ones of my group who refused to resort to depraved methods, but there are some who likes them a lot."
- "Well, at least, we can agreed on the fact that he has principles." Commented Sting.
- "Go, I am burning up now, come on!" Natsu was ready to fight, but he'll quickly be disappointed.
- "Oh, if I was you, I won't be showing off. It is time to change the scenery."
- "What ? What does he mean when he say 'change the scenery' ?" Asked Happy, his answer coming via Kagura.
- "I don't really know but I got a feeling that we are not going to like it."
- "It is time for me to play at home. LET'S GO !"
Vincenzo's body began emitting a monstrous quantity of energy, and although he did not possess magic strictly speaking, the 4 mages still had a backlash in front of so much power. This energy began propagating and forming an gigantic circle around the group.
VEGETAL WORLD : WHIPERING FOREST !
Suddenly, the ground cracked under the mages and a forest appeared, surrounding them. They quickly noticed that this forest was rather special. It was so dark that they couldn't see three meters away and so dense that it was difficult to move freely. They were literally surrounded with vegetation and considering Vincenzo's powers, it was a very bad sign. And to the icing on the cake, they were all separated from each other.
- " SO THIS IS YOUR PLAN? HIDING LIKE A COWARD?! "
- " Please Natsu, calm down. " Whispered Vincenzo to provoke the dragon.
KARYU NO HOKO!
When he heard this voice, Natsu spat a torrent of flame in the same direction, but the answer which he obtained was not the one he expected.
- " HEY! Natsu, what the hell are you doing?! " It was Sting, who just had time to crouch to avoid ending in grill.
- " Hehehe. Welcome in the Whispering Forest. " Answered Vincenzo, always hidden but whose voice seemed to reverberate all around them. " I can tell you that your chances of survival have just reached zero. And it is not necessary to try to run away this forest is in fact in a different space, a bubble which will grow according to your action to make sure you stay inside. Basically, it has no limit. "
- " Simply put, we are prisoner of this place " summarized Kagura, observing her surroundings.
- " Exactly. And now, I am going to have a little fun. " They could not see him, but Vincenzo got a dark grin when he said those words.
All of a sudden, the vegetation began moving attack the poor mages from all side. Explosive seeds, whip vines, razor leaves, wood hammer and everything you could think of. A deluge which the mages had no chance to avoid. Meanwhile, Vincenzo stood, arms crossed, looking with a smile at the spatial sphere where the mages were locked, satisfied with the way things were going.
- " Well, I just have to wait for them to die, I guess. " He saw a small movement on his left and turning his head, he saw Happy, who looked the sphere without knowing what he could do. The smile on Vincenzo's face stretched even more and spoke to the cat. " Ah, I missed someone ? "
Happy froze, realizing that this guy saw him. Knowing he had to do something, he did the only thing he could do. He spread his wings and flew away as fast as his wings could take him. If he was fast enough, he could reach the guild and bring back some reinforcements. But regrettably, the vegetal man had some other plans.
RUBBER WHIP !
A white, gooey and slightly sticky substance oozed from his hand and he threw it towards Happy, catching the flying Exceed, sending him back to the ground.
- " Where do you think you are going, like that? I don't need reinforcement to came now. So you stay here with me. "
Happy was however surprised seeing that the rubber whip which held him prisoner was gone and that Vincenzo was not watching him.
- " Why are you not locking me up with the others? You won't even tie me up? " Asked Happy, who was afraid, thinking about what this chap wanted to do. The 5 others were trapped and he could not call anyone to help. He had to find a solution.
- " Why I shall bother to do that? After all, it is not as if you were a threat. This sensation of powerlessness which you feel, not being able to help his friends in any way, is it not what you feel all the time during your jobs? " Vincenzo's word reached Happy's heart and the worst, it's that he could not deny the facts. " I have to say what should be said. As things are today, except eating fish and sometime being used as a mean of transport for Natsu, you have no real role. It's probably not easy to live with that, especially when you add at this the fact that the other Exceeds are all able to team up with their partner. Don't try to deny it, I know that the reactions of Natsu towards Lector and Frosch hurt you. "
Happy looked down, quivering, with tears in the eyes, not being able to deny that he was right. He felt less and less useful, more and more on the sideline, and he began to be fed up with it. Seeing that his words had had the intended effect, Vincenzo turned to the spatial sphere, feeling less and less movements inside.
" It would seem that they won't hold much longer, now. I wonder who should be my next targets ? "
But he hardly had time to think about that when he felt like something was happening in the sphere. Frowning, he raised his head to look at the sphere and see that the top was taking a lighter shade. This spot began to expand, becoming even more clear. Not understanding what was happening, he took a look inside. While Kagura, Sting, Lyon and Lector were all knocked out, covered with wounds, deep gashes and other, head on the ground, Natsu, who was not in better shape, was standing up, covered with flames which were gaining in intensity with every seconds. They had reached such a heat that the surrounding plants was reduced to ashes as soon as they were too close. Going out of the sphere, Vincenzo noticed that the sphere was still swelling, cracks covering its surface.
"No, don't tell me he is …" he opened wide eyes, as he realizing what was happening. "He releases so much energy that the spatial bubble cannot extend fast to contain everything. He is going to …"
He didn't have time to finish his sentence when the sphere exploded, the shockwave so intense that it could be felt all the way to Karista. When the explosion settled down, Vincenzo reopened his eyes, seeing Natsu, just standing a few feet away from him.
- "Not bad, dragon." Vincenzo was clearly annoyed. "But if you want some fireworks, I can give you something good." He joined both hands, arms tightened in front of him.
VEGETAL WEAPONRY : TROPICAL RAILGUN !
An enormous, long and tubular wooden cannon covered with stripes from where emanated a bright green light formed on his hands, and he pointed the weapon at Natsu. In a low humming, particles of green energy accumulated in the cannon, filling him almost to the brim.
- "Arrivederci, Natsu Dragneel!"
SLASHING FORM !
Without having time to realized what happened, Vincenzo's cannon was cut in several pieces before exploding and a profound gash on his left side. Turning his head, he saw Kagura, Archenemy in hand, collapsing on the ground after this last offensive.
- " ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ! You are all really starting to get on my nerve! "
THORNS SWARM !
Putting his hands on the ground, Vincenzo called a thick cloud of brambles which rushed at Kagura and Natsu, but regrettably for him, a new unforeseen event stood up against him.
ICE MAKE: FROST WAVE !
A wave of frost propagated at full speed and froze the brambles immediately. Vincenzo turned his head again, his time seeing Lyon, laying on the ground, panting, his hands joined. He also saw Natsu rush towards him, Sting just next to him.
- " I don't think so. " Vincenzo, eyes aimed at the two guys, put a hand on the ground but noticed with horror that Lyon had not only frozen his brambles, but also the ground, rending him unable to use his powers. And to insult to the injury, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in one of his feet. Looking down, he saw Lector, his claws planted in one of his feet, nailing him on the spot. The reality then hit him like a train launched at full speed. He was cooked.
- " IT IS FAR FROM BEING FINISHED, MAGES ! THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING ! YOU STILL HAVE MY 11 PARTNERS TO BEAT AND CAN GUARANTE THAT YOU HAVE SEEN NOTHING YET ! "
The Natsu and Sting's magic combined, creating a white and red sphere in the palm of their hands and while they were not more than a few meters away, Lector let go of the Strizer, getting out of the way.
WHITE FLAME'S DRAGON HOLY FLARE!
Their magics merged more and they struck the Strizer at the same time, unleashing their powers in a wave of energy which took Vincenzo up to his restaurant. When he came in contact with the walls of the building, all the power of the attack exploded, destroying the restaurant and the shock propagated all the way Karista, where the inhabitants panicked because of it, and even further away. When the smoke cleared out, the restaurant was nothing more than a heap of ruins, Vincenzo spread eagle in the middle of it, half burned, unconscious. The 4 mages, relieved, collapsed, succumbing to their wounds. Lector, in better shape than the others, got up, observing the damages of the fight and the mages before calling the other Exceed, which had stayed on edges, as if he was in his own world.
- " Hey Happy. " The blue cat raised the head towards Lector, as if he realized just now that it was finished. " We have to bring them to the others and I can't carry all of them alone. Takes Natsu, I take care of others. " On these words, he took Kagura under an arm, Sting in the other one and lifted Lyon with his tail. Observing his Exceed friend, Vincenzo's words returned to assault Happy's, making him feel sick again.
- "Let's go". With this, they took off, heading toward Fairy Tail. Shortly after their departure, a silhouette appeared next to Vincenzo's body, looking at him and shaking his head.
- " You can do better, Vince. You can do better. Well, it's still good. We collected quite a lot of data. Hopefully the next one will get better results. " With this, he disappeared with Vincenzo, as if they were snatched by the shadows.
/- Fairy Tail -/
If there is one thing which the mages gathered at Fairy Tail did not expect, it was seeing their 4 friends returning to the guild unconscious, carried by 2 Exceeds, who weren't at their best either. After the mages received first aid, the other mages bombarded them with questions, but soon, Happy began to go away.
- " Where are you going, Happy? " Asked Natsu, intrigued by the unusual behavior of his feline partner.
- "Uh, I'm going home. I'm really tired. " Answered the Exceed, earning suspicious looks from his friends, not used to this kind of behavior on behalf of Happy.
- " Ah OK. See you tonight then. " With this, Happy got out of the guild and the others returned to their interrogation, during which the mages gone to Karista explained everything that happened there. They all listened, frowning at what they were hearing, even if some of them stopped at some details, like the iron dragon.
- " So in short, " began Gajeel. " You were attacked by a cook who mop the floor with you and you learnt nothing else? Ah, pathetic! " He began laughing, before stopping, after receiving an elbow in the ribs from Levy.
- " I wouldn't say that. " She started again, glaring at Gajeel before turning back at the others. " We know that they are from another world and that they are here to test us. "
- " We also know that they are tough. This guy was alone and hold his own against Natsu, Lyon, Sting and Kagura. " added Gray when he heard someone cough. Seeing Lector, he corrected himself. " And Happy and Lector also. If the 11 others are as strong as he is, it won't be easy. "
- " Especially that the others might resort to more obscure methods to fight. " add Erza, arms crossed on her armor. " If we add that to the fact that we know nothing of who they are and the nature of their powers, we will have to constantly on our guard to avoid being too vulnerable. "
- "There is no need to overthink it. We'll think about it tomorrow, after a good night sleep." Announced Makarof, getting the attention of everybody. At those words, the mages part, each going to bed, hoping that the future is not as complicated as what the recent events suggested.
/- The next day -/
Even though it was just 9 in the morning, the guild hall was already packed with a lot of people. Some of them had a particularly bad night, with barely any sleep at all, the discussions of the day before had maintained them awake, for some all night long. The discussions were almost all centered around the Strizers and how to beat them when suddenly, Natsu broke up the doors of the guild and without bothering to even say hello to anyone, he began running in all the building, as if he was looking for something.
- "Come on, where are you?! If it's a joke, it's not funny!"
Or rather somebody and it was when everybody realized that Natsu was alone: Happy was not with him.
- "Natsu, what's going on?" Lucy had asked the question, even if she had a good idea of the answer and she suspected that she was not going to like it.
- "HAPPY DISAPPEARED!"
OK, little cliffhanger, in a way.
I hope you liked that chapter and that this fight was good enough for you, since it was the first time I'm using one of my OCs in a fic, moreover in a fight. Please leave a review if you liked it or if you have some advices.
See you next time !
Next time : Looking for a cat. Tigers assaulted by a lion. The light of a bad omen !