Safety everybody! I hope that you are all fine. From my part, concerns of sleeps disturbs me a little but that goes I hold out. Today, lightning and desert takes action whereas the continuous explanations.
I am not the owner of Fairy Tail, Nyrans and Strizers being my personal creations.
Here we go!
Chapter 25: The Nyrans dilemma
The squadron of Nyrans slowly but surely approached the city, which was not going to stay in one piece for a very long time if they managed to reach the city, and the Strizers were completely aware of that.
- "We aren't going to be able to prevent them from reaching the city." Noticed Kareem. "What do we do, then ?"
- "Too bad for the city. We needs to evacuate the inhabitants." The clear-cut opinion of didn't pleased the mages who were held by their side, glaring at the back of the Strizers.
- "So you're going to let them destroy the city ? And how do you plan to evacuate them ?" Asked Natsu, not liking the idea to let the city be destroyed one more time after what she had already undergone in the past.
- "A district is already half in ruins because of the fight between Rachel and your girlfriends. And we can easily reconstruct what will be destroyed." Stan had adopted an inflexible tone which clearly meant that it was not better worth pissing him off and contradicting him while he plunged a hand into one of the pockets of his pants. "And don't you worry about the evacuation, I have an idea." He taken out of his pocket an earphone that he placed in his right ears that he then connected to his smartphone, the mages looked with curiosity at the device.
- "What is that ?" wondered Panther, his head tilted to the side.
- "To make it short, it is a device of our world which is called 'telephone' which allows us to communicate with other people." It was Daniel who had answered, exhausted but not breathless anymore, standing a little behind his colleagues. "And what he put in his ear is going to allow him to communicate without touching the telephone."
- "It's Stan, where are you ?" All turned their head to Stanley who, if the observers didn't known for the telephone and the earphone, would have given the impression he was talking alone. "I have an emergency evacuation to be made in Magnolia so come here asap ! And bring your doppelganger." He hung up without further ado and began waiting, his eyes still firmly planted on the Nyrans which were still approaching.
- "Hum and what are you waiting for exact…"
The question of Romeo died in his throat when the answer appeared in front of his stunned eyes. Stanley's shade began swelling, a form taking shape in the black mass, becoming more and more human and when the mass ended its metamorphosis, a ray of light crossed the city in a blink of an eye and the following moment, the light and the shade had disappeared and let their places to Xun and Esteban respectively, eyes already focused on the group of Nyrans on the horizon. But their presence lifted quite a lot of reaction.
- "That really had to be him ?" Seethed Jellal, drawing the attention of Esteban who just turned the time to throw a derisive smile at him.
- "I too am pleased to see you again, chico."
- "It is not the moment to trigger problems pointlessly, Esteban." Xun called his dark partner, the latter giving him a dark glare before returning to the main subject. "You summoned us for an evacuation, is that it ?"
- "Yeah. We are not going to be able to prevent the fight from taking place in town so we at least need to take the inhabitants in safety. So go work on that and when you will have finished, return to where you were." Stan's orders were clear and the concerned Strizers executed them, but not without a last remark.
- "Very well, I'll do it at once." Answered Xun whose body began shining more and more.
- "Stop speaking to me like that, puta. Disturbing me for some shit like that, I swear." Spat Esteban, flailing his arms. And in the second which followed, Esteban dived into his shade and Xun disappeared in a flash of light. In the street situated in front of the guild, the mages could see the inhabitants, who watched the approaching monsters with concern, being snatched by a bright body which ran around the whole city at the speed of light or being inhaled by their own shadow who had opened under their feet like a portal. Within a few minutes, every one of the inhabitants had disappeared, leaving a city desert except for the mages and the Strizers, these latter ready to fight.
- "Wait a second." Stan sighed of annoyance one more time, turning to Mirajane who had interrupted him. "Where did you sent the inhabitants ?"
- "In a safe place." It was now Kareem who had answered, being afraid that Stanley might lose his mind because for the doctor, this had an obvious answer. "Don't worry, they are fine and we shall return them as soon as we will finished this and rebuild the city."
- "Well, let's not waste any more time. They spotted us." Stanley had, by pronouncing this sentence, recalled Kareem and the mages who saw that indeed, the Nyrans was rushing at them. The sudden disappearance of the inhabitants had not gone unnoticed by the monsters which had to scan the city in search for any form of energy and when they got the Strizers, they had launched an attack. But Stanley and Kareem, by no means impressed by the enemy stampede, made some step forwards, the mages observants, curious to see what they both were really capable of after what they had demonstrated a little earlier. While the mass of enemies approached, Kareem put a knee on the ground, placing a hand there which took on an orange aura.
DESERT SAND ROAD !
The entire street in front of the Strizers was transformed into a road of sand in which the Nyrans found themselves strongly slowed down. Which benefited Stanley whose hands covered themselves with crackling lightning arc.
THUNDERCLAP ARROW SHOT !
Stanley joined his hands, then pulled a hand towards the back, drawing a bow made of lightning and shot an arrow of thunder which burned out the Nyrans taken in the sand but the others did not stop for all that. Another wave of Nyrans, with black bodies covered with blue marks, followed after the others, each one of them surrounded with a bubble of water which helped them cross the sand, floating above the sand thanks to the bubble. They were faced with Kareem who held his hands towards them.
DRYING GALE !
An extremely dry draft was thrown on the blue Nyrans whose layer of water disappeared in an instant, Stan taking advantage of the opening to get rid of the wave which was still in the middle of the sand.
LIGHTNING DOWNPOUR !
Rising his hands, still covered with lightning, towards the sky which began to darken, Stanley letting his energy invade the sky and, the following moment, he lowered his hands suddenly, making a monstrous quantity of lightning bolt suddenly on the sanded up zone, creating a thick cloud of dust which prevented anyone from knowing what had happened inside. But when this cloud disappeared, the mages witnessed a show for which they weren't ready. Where was until then a huge sandbox was now a kind of rocky formation which blocked the way to the Nyrans, or at least for those who had not been roasted and impaled on stony spikes.
- " How did he do that ? " Wondered Laxus. Being himself a lightning user, the idea to have others way of using his powers was interesting.
- " This is fulgurite. " Answered Daniel, stretching his muscles, being ready to intervene just in case. " Those are silicas amorphous sculpture created by lightning strike on the sand. "
- " And he blocked the street with that? "
- " Yeah. You needs to know that Stan is probably the most intelligent among us. " Added Daniel, a hand playing with his pendant shaped like an eagle by observing closely the Nyrans. " He knows by heart the properties of electricity and knows better than anyone how to use it in fight. "
- " So, he is the most powerful of you, if I understand well. " Concluded Bickslow, his dolls flying around him repeating 'understands'.
- " In term of power, we are all more or less equal, even if certain elements make us more capable in a fight than others. You might guess that the sand is not as destructive as the lightning, but regarding the environmental control and the illusion, he is above when it come to drying up huge zones and the mirages. But with a brain as big, Stan is more often at the top of the tree than at the bottom. "
The mages said to themselves that Daniel might be exaggerating, but by looking at the mass of fulgurite which blocked the street, they couldn't help from admitting that he was right on at least a point : Stan knew how to use his powers. Using such a reaction to eliminate a big part of the opposite army and block the way for the others in the same way, it was really well thought. From their part, Stanley and Kareem had separated to each take care of half of the army of Nyrans.
/-With Kareem-/
Having separated from his partner, Kareem was faced with half of the group of Nyrans who had had to walk around because the main street was blocked by a wide wall of pointy fulgurite. The Nyrans charged at him without any further ado, well decided to eliminate the Strizer, but the guy in question was not more impressed than that. He dodged the blows without any trouble, by distributing some in return, but if the Nyrans were rather easily repelled, other Nyrans with thicker bodies covered with green, grey or brown mark were a harder nut to crack, being capable of enduring much more damages than the others. It meant that Kareem was going to have to spread the good word but with a little more conviction.
SANDSTORM CUT-THROAT TRAP !
A real miniature sandstorm got up and covered all of the district Kareem and the Strizers were in, blinding the creatures. The latter might have appearances of humanoids monsters, they had the same problem as anyone else when they had sand in their eyes. Immobilized by the sand, they couldn't defend themselves any more, even if it wouldn't have been very useful against what was ready for them. Hidden by the sand, moving with the speed of a cheetah, jumping on all the Nyrans present in the storm which were slaughter by the Strizer with blades made by some of the sand in the storm. In only a few seconds, a good tens of the Nyrans collapsed while Kareem reappeared outside of the storm that disappeared a short time later. Some time was needed before the Nyrans which had been spared understands what had happened but once the analysis done, they were more irritated than before and it was a very special squadron that was going to take over. Nyrans with long bodies and thin arms which ended with blade instead of fingers and legs that looked like the back legs of some insects with what seemed to be wheels under their feet. Kareem lost his confident smile by understanding what he had in front of him.
Nyrans Rusher.
Even before he had time to do anything, Kareem was assailed by the Rushers who moved so fast that it was almost impossible to see anything else than trails of dust lifted by their fast movement. Kareem was beaten up without being able to defend himself, the only positive point being the fact that Rusher weren't known for their strength of their blows. But with this rhythm, the lack of power wasn't really important. He had an idea but it was going to be necessary to save time if he wanted to set it up.
DRYING SHOCKWAVE !
The body of the Strizer of the desert covered itself with an orange aura which propagated suddenly around him who dried out everything it touched, including the buildings which fell into dust and some Nyrans, among which were some Rushers who weren't able to protect themselves, falling into dust, totally or partially. But Kareem didn't mind to know if he had hurt Nyrans or not since that he had now time to set up his plan.
BOTTOMLESS SAND HOLE !
Putting his hands on the ground, Kareem concentrated, the ground suddenly shaking under his feet. The Nyrans ignored what was his plan, but they didn't plan to let him do as he please, throwing themselves on him before he was able to do no anything. But it was already too late. In a groan of effort, Kareem dried up so much the ground that he dug a gaping hole in the middle of the city in whom the Nyrans found themselves all trapped, trying to go out of the hole, the bottom of which was so deep that they couldn't see the bottom. But it was a lost cause for the Nyrans who fell into the hole, their shouted resonating in the void into which they had disappeared. But for those who had survived, Kareem had other projects. In a position similar to a prayer, he was standing at the edge of the hole, his power growing at each seconds who passed.
DESERT DEVIL : GIANT THORNY DEVIL !
A deep rumbling noise was heard and felt coming from the depths of the hole, the rumbling becoming more and more powerful as the source of the growl approached opening the hole. After a few seconds, a gigantic brown and orange lizard covered with a scaly and spiky skin appears from the bottom of the hole, swallowing most of the rest of the Nyrans in one bite. With a shrill howling, the lizard returned inside the hole which then collapsed on itself. Kareem dusted his hands, thinking he was done, but in a crashing noise, a creature appeared out of nowhere in front of him, the Strizer eyes opening wide in surprise.
- " Well, it's going to be a little more challenging than I thought. "
/- Meanwhile, with Stanley -/
After separating the Nyrans, Stanley had left his companion, trusting the capacities of the Strizer of the desert to manage thing on his own. The Strizer of the thunder was, just like Kareem, in front of a squadron of Nyrans which had turned around the fulgurite wall and now faced Stan who seemed bored, tired and annoyed at the same time.
- " You are already an annoyance on a daily basis, but appearing so early and so violently forced me to change all of our plans. " Stan's reproaches didn't affected the Nyrans which had nothing to do of it, contenting with looking at Strizer, waiting for his first offensive. " I reached such a level of tension and build up stress that I really need to relieve and if I have to relieve myself of it, I'd better do it on something that is worth it. "
THUNDER GAUNTLET !
Gauntlets of lightning formed around Stanley's fists who banged his fists against each other in a provocative gesture which sparked things off, the Nyrans beginning their attack. The Nyrans with some sorts of artillery taking many shapes and sizes on their body opened fire on Stanley. They knew that a direct physical attack was out of the question with an opponent capable of electrocuting them with the slightest touch. Bullets were then raining down on Stan who, in spite of their number, managed to dodge everything without any problem thanks to reflexes that would make a machine jealous. Reaching the shooters, he began distributing the blows, every strike sending, besides the impact, several tens thousands of volts discharges through the Nyrans which were roasted immediately, collapsing with groans of agonies. His superhuman reflexes also allowed him to evade an assault orchestrated by invisible Nyrans which still manage to deal some damages on the Strizer which managed to recover quickly enough to counter-attack.
POLARIZING WAVE !
Using the same technique that the one used in the guild hall, he threw magnetic waves at everything around him, at first sight magnetizing nobody. The important part being 'At first sight'.
MAGNETIC CANNON !
Blue and red sparks formed two spheres in Stanley's hands he used to throw a multitude of blue and red orbs at everything around him, at first sight on nothing. But the invisible Nyrans weren't immunized to a magnetization. So, they had been in charge with positive or negative energy that made them targets of choice, the orbs of electricity striking each of the aggressors until they were all rendered harmless by Stan, the invisible becoming visible again and revealing bodies almost completely black. Stanley was rather satisfied but he wasn't going to be for a long time. A group of Nyrans with thick skin covered with brown or green marks advanced on him, the absence of face not preventing him from knowing that they were decided and confident. A confidence that didn't pleased Stanley whose body crackled literally, his hands covering with thunderstorms cloud that were connected with electric arcs.
THUNDERSTORM RAILGUN !
The discharge of lightning which followed was so powerful that the explosion cracked the stone around Stanley, the windows shattering while a real electric beam rushed on the group of Nyrans which was struck quite hard. But when the dust, lifted by the explosion, fell again, Stanley noticed that the creatures had almost nothing. Stanley understood why just then, a realization that tore away a frustrated 'Tch' out of him.
Insulated Nyrans. Non-conducting Nyrans which were basically immune to electricity.
Taking advantage of the light state of shock of Stan, the Nyrans attacked him, striking him every time they had the opportunity, their hits where marking the body of the Strizer in many places. Back, torso, ribs, face, legs : everything was hit. After approximately 1 minute of ceaseless assault, which with their speed was much more than what one could think at first sight, they threw Stanley in a building which collapsed on the Strizer. The Nyrans remained however careful, the Strizers were known to be tough and they were about to witness it one more time. In an explosion of electric arcs, the fragments of the house were thrown in every directions, letting appear a Stanley covered with lightning, his eyes themselves apparently replaced by orbs of crackling electricity. His hands, on the other hand, weren't covered with lightning bolt, but they began to redden dangerously.
OVERVOLTAGE : OHMIC HEATED HAND !
Stanley's hands weren't red anymore but so hot that they shone almost white. The Insulated were protected against the electricity, we couldn't say the same thing about heat. With hyper fast movement, Stanley got close to every Nyrans which he pierced with his overheated fists, reducing them to nothing more than heaps of carbonized flesh which covered the street. The counter-attack during no more than a few seconds thanks to the superhuman speed of the Strizer and that enough for him. He had left his Overvoltage mode in the second the assault was finished, now panting with fatigue. But regrettably, he witnessed the same unforeseen arrival that Kareem, worth knowing a newcomer who came out of nowhere, who pulled a nth sigh out of Stanley.
- "And shit."
/- In front of the guild -/
Once the wall of fulgurite was raised, the mages and Daniel had seen the 2 Strizers parting to go each take care of the army of Nyrans, leaving Daniel alone to answer the questions of the mages.
- "So your job is to get rid of those monsters, that's it ?" Asked Gray, which made Daniel grimace.
- "It's the general idea, but it's more complicated than that." Answered Daniel, paying attention not to make mistake when explaining. It's a subject already complicated and it was better to avoid any mistakes. "Nyrans are born from the same energy as the first guardian, the same energy which circulates in everything that makes up our world. Even if we eradicate totally the Nyrans, there will always be a part of them that will survive and we will always have to be on our guard, otherwise they could make a strong comeback."
- "So you've got to protect your world while knowing that they will return every time ?" Summarized Laxus, apparently aware of the difficulty of the task. "You don't have a really useful job."
- "Yeah, but we have no choice and moreover, we cannot refrain from feeling a light condolence for the Nyrans and resentment for the guardians." In front of the dazed looks of the mages, Daniel explained more precisely. "What I want to say is, how would you feel if you were in their place ? If you had been created to be then put aside because they had no desire to give you a purpose ? And then, we inherited that stupid mission because the first guardians didn't want to assume their bullshit and reacted too late. Which explain the difficulty of the situation we are in."
The mages could only recognize that the situation of the Strizers and their origins were more than difficult. But they didn't have time to feel sorry more than that. With an impact and a crashing noise, Stanley and Kareem's bodies reappeared, like two missiles, getting through two buildings before rolling on the ground to stop a few meters away from the others. They got up, Stanley marked by an open eyebrow, blood in his mouth, several wounds his whole body, the same thing could be said for Kareem whose glasses were twisted and tilted on his face, the forehead(front) swollen with a big bump made purple. And the reason of this state, or rather the REASONS, were two enormous black giants, covered with marks, one oranges and the other one yellow, muscular and as tall as a two-storied building.
- " What are those things ? " Asked Natsu, Daniel's face contorting while looking at the beasts.
- " Nyrans Homunculi. Nyrans which are basically piled on top of each other to create giants which accumulate the power of the Nyrans which compose them. Real pain in the ass to take care of. "
- " I have the feeling that your buddies are in for a hard time. " Said Gray, but Daniel didn't seemed that worried.
- " Not really. I have the feeling that they are fed up. Which means … " His sentence stayed on hold one moment, the time for Stanley to put a hand on the metallic headband covered with engraving in forms of snakes which he had in his hair whereas Kareem took out of his pocket a sort of bracelet around which was rolled up some sort of lizard. " … That they decided to stop playing. "
DESERT IGUANA / THUNDER COBRAS !
The metallic objects then began to shine and the animals which were on them started to move and to grow. After a few seconds, a wide metal iguana was standing on Kareem right shoulder and two cobras, also metallic, were rolled up around Stan's neck. If the appearance of those animals was already surprising, what followed was even more surprising. At Stan and Kareem order, the creatures jumped of their owner and, while they were in the air, started to bend and to twist their bodies, changing shape, and after a few seconds of folding, Kareem had in his hand an ax made from the iguana, the blade being the dewlap of the iguana (Nda: the kind of skin hanging under the head) whereas Stan had in hand two Desert Eagle, each made of a cobra, the head of which was at the end of the cannon.
DESERT AX / THUNDER DEAGLE !
- " … Seriously ? What was that ? Animals or weapons ? "
- " Both. " Answered Daniel to Cana. " They are Weapon Beast. We all have one of it and they are at the center of our powers. You're go to see that with them, we aren't playing anymore. "
Stanley clocked his weapons at one of the giants, making a flurry of electric bullets on the Nyran which, in spite of its big resistance to the electricity, was pushed away, every impact pushing him back a few step. From his part, Kareem swung his ax at his own opponent, either to counter its knocks, or to push him back too. The disconcerting ease with which they pushed away their enemies was exceptional, and when came the moment to finish it, they loaded their powers. The blade of the ax began covering itself with an orange light, Stanley sticking the cannon of his weapons one against the other, his energy circulating through the gun which filled the two with the electrical energy.
DESERT AX HEAVY CUT !
THUNDER DEAGLE TESLA CANNON !
Kareem swung his ax down on one of the golems whereas Stan opened fire and the electric power accumulated in his weapons unfurled on the monster, the first one ending cut clear in half, a blade of orange energy continuing beyond the Nyran on a good ten meters, the monster in front of Stan having literally been pulverized by the electric shock, only the bottom of his body having survived, what was also the case of what was behind the Nyran which had also been pulverized. Heaving a sigh of relief, the Strizers changed their weapons back into animals which took back their positions on the shoulders of their owners, the iguana having a nap while the cobras looked at the mages with an almost haughty air.
- " Well, that's done. But it was only the beginning. " Heaved Stanley, turning to the mages. " So, what did you think of it ? "
Makarov, which had followed the scene with interest, having missed nothing, from the fulgurite to the end of the fight, but also the huge lizard which had appears in the middle of the city or the thunderclaps which had made the city shake. The fairies looked at their master, waiting for his decision which arrived after a few seconds of reflection.
- " Very well, we are going to TRY to work with you. " The decision of Makarov pleased the Strizers but not the mages who were about to make their refusal known. Which they would have done if he didn't have to add a condition, his face hard. " But because those are your opponents, I expect that you do everything to protect my 'children'. If something bad happens to them because of you, know that those monsters would be the least of your problem. Am I clear ? "
The Strizers agreed, satisfied with the agreement, which the mages weren't liking that much. If Makarov had chosen to try and work with them, they would team up with the Strizers but a thing was sure. With what they had lived with the other Strizers, the cohabitation was going to be rowdy.
Here we are ! I hope that this chapter will have pleased you. Leave a review if you liked it or if you have a remark. See you !