Outcasts and Outlaws

Volume 3, Chapter 24

Dragon State

Opening Music: https/youtu.be/jOz5mHKWaQ8 [GATE OP 1]

(Music starts)

(Note: Characters listed next show up at the same time as the letters in the video)

(Shows Yang)

(Shows Jim)

(Shows Irileth)

(Shows Kane)

(Shows Mars)

(Shows Damien)

(Shows Ruby)

(Shows Connor)

(Quickly shows the letters of the title)

OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS (Shows Connor walking down the corridor of Beacon)

Toku ni nani mo nozomu koto (Connor looks behind him)

nante nai!

(Ruby is behind him)

Minihodo wa shite

(She smiles at him) iru sa!

(Yang comes out of her room) Sonna boku de sae mo

(She pretends to be grumpy but let's out a small smile)

oku no hou ni!

(Shows Irileth in the arena facing away)

Yuzuritakunai

(She spins around and faces forward)

ikou geedo wa

(Attacks with her dual energy whips)

arurashii!

(Shows Stephane walking away from the arena)

Mamorutte angai to

(He scowls angrily)

muzukashii ne!

(Shows Mars raising his fist into the air)

Aki-

(Shows Kane charging into battle) -ra-

(Shows Jim punching with his metal arm)

-meru

(Shows combat air ships leaving Beacon) wake ja nai kedo!

(The air ships arrive at the naval platform)

Aoi sora no hate

(Everyone jumps down from the air ships and lands on the naval platform)

tsunagatta machi no yukue

(They walk towards the soldiers) Kitto teki to wakari

(The soldiers fire at them)

aenai

(The team fires their semblances) dakedo

(Their semblances take out the soldiers)

iin ja nai!

(Shows Mars using Mystic State) Hirata tobira wa

(Shows Kane surrounded by dark clouds)

subete o kaete

(Shows Jim's muscles growing stronger)

yuku!

(Shows Daryl standing on the roof watching the battle)

Sora no akatsuki no you ni!

(Shows Michael in flying around in his dragon exo-suit)

Oh wow wow! (Shows Michelle teleport behind Irileth and Kane and swing her twin-blade at them) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Wolf slicing at Jim, Yang and Stephane with his claws)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Jorge firing a chain gun at Mars and Damien)

Oh wow wow!

(Shows Mars, Connor, Jim and Kane trying to push a tank back) Oh wow wow!

(Shows Michael, Michelle, Wolf and Jorge)

(Shows Mars and Damien)

(Shows Yang, Jim and Stephane) (Shows Kane and Irileth)

(Shows Connor and Ruby)

(Shows them all cheering in a line)

Jim hit the metal floor with a thunk, landing near where Yang was lying, Kane and Irileth lying by each other in the same way. Mars and Damien were still being suppressed by Jorge's gunfire and had no way of doing anything without dropping their shield and being torn to shreds by bullets. As for Connor, he was stood leaning against a steel wall, breathing hard after just being hit in the belly but staring in awe at the final moments of Jim's battle. "Amazing..." He mumbled to himself as blood trickled out of his mouth and down his chin, his entire body badly bruised.

"If you have time to compliment your friend's battle, you should be using that time to think of a way to beat me." Michael commented wryly from his metal dragon exoskeleton. "That's the way a logical man like me would think."

Pushing himself away from the wall and ignoring the aches all over himself, Connor wittily replied, "If that's the case, shouldn't you be thinking of a way to win right now too?"

"Oh, believe me I am." Michael assured him, raising a metal claw in front of himself to illustrate his point. "I've already thought of a thousand different strategies I can use to kill you, but I don't need them since it seems just punching you over and over is working just fine."

"Heh, I've been punched plenty of times and I'm still here, it'll take more than that." Connor remarked, recalling his fight with Yang and the many punches thrown in that battle. He then got himself into a battle ready position, his legs bent and his fists in front of him, and questioned, "So what's with the semblances? Damien told us you lot aren't supposed to have any."

"Your ally Kane figured it out." Michael began to explain, lowering his clawed arm as he did so, allowing a temporary moment of peace. "The aura tanks on our backs create artificial auras, they give us our power. When destroyed, like Kane did to Irileth's, our semblances cease to exist."

"I haven't seen you use a semblance yet. What's wrong, four eyes, did you get left out?" Connor taunted, hoping to rile up his enemy and take advantage of his mistakes.

"I am the inventor of the aura tanks, Master Daryl gave me the resources I required." Michael answered, a annoyed frown making it's way onto his face at the taunting. "Instead of giving myself a semblance like the others, I decided it would be a more worthy investment to create this masterpiece of a dragon suit!"

"You talk about Daryl like he's your master, even call him it." Connor said, his face turning more determined as he prepared to jump back into the fight. "Why do you follow a man like him, why do you stay loyal? Don't you see that what he's doing is wrong? He's killing so many underserving people!"

Smiling at what he saw as his opponents ignorance, Michael calmly replied, "I follow him because he saved me, because he trusted and cared for me even when I was an outcast through the eyes of everyone else, he took in all of us! He is like a father to us and know I am watching you tremble before the creation he has helped me to complete, the ultimate dragon armour, the unbreakable steel!"

As soon as Micheal finished his speech, Connor put his foot forward, then another and another until he was running and shouting with a confident grin on his face, "Who's trembling?!" His arms then beginning to radiate with the golden light of his semblance, he threw his fist towards Micheal, who blocked it with his own metal clawed fist. He expected nothing to come of it, but to his surprise, the steel over his arm cracked a couple of seconds after the punch. His eyes widened in disbelief as Connor smirked confidently, already having planned his next move.

He moved swiftly, punching forward with his other fist, the hit being blocked by Michael's other metal arm, which also cracked as the golden light impacted it. Connor then brought up his leg, kneeing Michael in the face and knocking him back, finally taking the advantage. He then wasted no time, getting in a punch straight to Michael's unprotected stomach, knocking him to the ground with power of his semblance growing more and more, the golden light circling his body and enveloping his forearms. While his opponent was down, Connor then leapt up and aimed his next punch downwards. Micheal grabbed the fist with his steel claws just before it hit his stomach again, pushing with all his might to keep it away from him as the light around Connor continued to intensify. Connor however then attacked with his free hand, thinking he'd land the hit.

Michael unfortunately had another trick up his sleeve, the tail of his metal dragon suit came from behind him and smacked Connor in the chest, knocking him far away. Connor luckily wasn't winded this time and managed to stay standing, but felt the bruise on his chest where he'd hit. "You're the warrior of light..." Michael stated in between breaths, Connor looking at him confusedly. "In the tomes of Remnant, a warrior of light is depicted with power handed down from the dragon Titan himself. That's what you are, you have the same power, the same semblance."

"Warrior of light...I like the sound of that." Connor responded, grinning to himself as he wiped blood from his mouth. "It makes me sound like a badass."

"Don't get cocky, you may have cracked the steel frame of my armour, but you can't deny that I hit hard." Michael argued back, making sure his steel dragon armour wasn't about to fall apart because of the cracks. "It's hurts, doesn't it?"

Putting his hand on his chest where he had been it many times, Connor felt the fabric of his undervest and went back to being serious. The vest had a scraggy hole were his wound was and the rest looked like it would rip apart any minute. "Yeah, it hurts. It hurts like hell." Connor admitted, grabbing his vest in his fist. "It hurts, but I've had so much worse before. I've been shot at, stabbed, had my bones broken and almost died before, so some bruises aren't gonna weigh me down!"

Stopping his speech before he had intended to finish, Connor then heard a voice in his head, a familiar voice. It was Ruby's.

"Connor, I have an idea, hopefully a good one." She said, speaking in the same way Kane had all that time ago when he had been in Connor's head. "Back when Kane was in your head, you could use his semblance, right?"

"Rubes...you're a freaking genius, I wish could kiss you right now." Connor playfully responded, understanding what she meant, but being careful not to let Michael hear his muttering.

"You can, after all this is over, finish it quick." She then told him, Connor feeling his heart race faster as warmth filled him and relieved him of the pain he was feeling. Even whilst not even in her own body, whilst sharing, Ruby could still make him feel happy.

As the golden light began circling him again, it's strength reborn after the hit he had taken, Connor let a smile out of the corner of his mouth. "I'll finish it right now, Rubes!" He declared, putting his foot forward and going into another run.

Music: http/youtu.be/Zjb109KA6Po [Fairy Tail OST- Cobra Theme]

Anticipating Connor to rush forward, Michael braced himself, preparing to defend. When Connor came close enough, he lashed out with his steel claw, but somehow missed. Connor had vanished from right in front of him. Hearing movement from behind him, Michael then turned around and saw Connor there, allowing him to figure out what was going on. Just like when Kane had been the one in his mind, he was still able to use the semblance of the person sharing his body. Now he was using Ruby's speed, moving way too fast for anyone to track, expect this time he had his own semblance on top of it.

Moving too quickly his heavily armoured opponent to react, Connor threw a hard punch, smacking Michael right in the jaw. Before he could recover from the blow, he felt another hit in the stomach, then another in the back. Soon he was being hit from all over, Connor moving unbelievably speedily and getting in punches all over. His steel exoskeleton cracked all over, it's structure weakening.

While Micheal was still reeling back from a particularly powerful attack, Connor dashed in front of him and began charging up his aura in his arms. He'd done it before in the battle against Mars and remembered how. After only a few seconds, blades of light had formed on Connor's elbows, going all the way down his arm to just before his wrist. He charged forward once more, crossing his arms over himself, then slashed past Michael and yelled, "Golden Dragon Wings!"

[Stop Music]

Michael yelled out in pain at the blow, the golden light wasn't able to physically cut through people, but the pain that it delivered was real enough. Michael was experiencing what he would if Connor had run him through with his arm blades. Connor smiles confidently at that, coming to a stop behind his opponent as he was sure he'd won.

He didn't anticipate what happened next however. Michael's metal dragon tail slammed down on him, knocking him to the ground, his face grinding against the rusty metal. Next thing he knew, Michael had picked him up in his large claws and then threw him far across the battlefield and into a steel wall. Connor hit the wall with such force that the platform instead shook, his head bashing against the hard surface a split second before he blacked out.

Music: http/youtu.be/tUtNsZXsZZo [Fairy Tail OST- Main Theme Slow]

When Connor's consciousness slowly returned to him, he quickly realised he was in the white realm of his mind, or of Kalos'. Whichever one it was, it was the same flat blank landscape he had seen many times before. Through his blurred and shaky vision, he could see the large stone wall in the distance with someone sitting on top, who he assumed to be Kalos. He felt a harsh pain at the back of his head, where he'd impacted the wall, but like all the other times he had entered this realm he was not physically injured. Once again, his eyepatch and metal hand were gone, replaced with normal body parts, and the wounds he had more recently sustained were gone. He noticed that time however, he was wearing his white cloak instead of his old red checkered shirt, barely able to see the colour of it through the blurs. He found he couldn't move his body all that much, but could tell he was sitting as if leaning against a wall, with his legs out in front of him, except there was no wall.

The first thing he felt aside from his terrible headache was someone gripping the collar of his long coat with one hand, prompting him to try to focus his vision. After making the blurs partially but not completely go away, he saw that the person was Ruby, who was sat on her knees in between his open legs. He could see that she was upset, she was looking down at the ground whilst weakly holding onto his coat, but he didn't know what to do. He could barely see straight, still feeling the effects of the hit to his head.

"You got hurt...you always get hurt..." Ruby mumbled, tears starting to run down her face. Since Connor was still out of it, he only realised she was in tears when he heard her sobbing.

Once he heard that unmistakable sound, he weakly reached an arm up and patted her on the head, feeling her soft hair brush through his fingers. "Damn it..." He cursed, his voice sounding tired and weak. "I promised not to make you cry anymore...I messed up..." It was then that he started to feel tears running down his own face, joining in the feeling with Ruby.

Knowing he was crying too without looking up, Ruby now held onto the collar of his coat with both hands and said, "Don't be so hard on yourself...you tried...you always try so hard for me..."

"I can't beat him though...I've tried...he keeps hitting me back even harder than before." Connor sobbed, moving his hand into Ruby's back and holding her closer to him.

"You have to beat him, you're fighting for two now." Ruby told him, wiping the tears from her eyes and looking up at his face. The stared into each other's eyes, communicating unsaid feelings. Even just like that, they knew what they were both thinking.

"So mushy." Kalos dryly commented from his perch atop the stone wall. "I'll never understand this thing that you humans call love, it bewilders me. You put all your strength into protecting each other, under the premise of love. I can't understand it."

"Shut up." Connor half heartedly and somewhat jokingly responded, earning an amused chuckle from Kalos. He then wrapped both his arms around Ruby, holding her close to him while he touched heard with her and looked into her eyes. "You're right...I'm fighting for two...so I'll fight with everything I've got."

"Don't die, ok?" Ruby pleaded, putting her hands on his cheeks and giving him the sweetest smile he had ever seen from her. Despite the gravity of the situation, this moment was one of the best in his life. He felt close to her, and knew she felt the same way.

"You betcha." He replied, kissing her softly on the lips one more time, before he inevitably went back to his body. He then raised a hand in the air as if to wave, then called out to Kalos, "Yo, Kalos, think you could find it in our heart to lend a tired fighter some power?"

Letting out another amused chuckle at the request, showing a side of himself Connor had never before seen, and looked as though he would be smiling if he had a mouth when he answered, "Don't waste it."

The blank landscape was then filled with an almighty light, Connor disappearing into as Ruby waved her goodbye, eagerly awaiting his victory over his opponent. In an instant, he was back in his body, standing up mightily. Michael stare at him in awe as his metal hand glowed with the purple light and lightning of the true Kalos Crystal and the golden light of his semblance intensified all around him like never before. The light went all the way up his arms to his shoulders, emanating from his entire body. It shaped around his back, forming two dragon like wings of golden light.

[Stop Music]

"This is...the true power of a dragon..." Michael muttered to himself as he took in he sight before him, Connor's power only growing. "This is the power from the ancient tomes...Dragon State..."

Connor took a step forward, then pushed his leg, letting the light propel him. His golden dragon wings carried him to Michael in a flash, hovering him just a little above the ground as he gritted his teeth angrily, ready to finish his opponent off. His feet landed on the ground as he positioned himself under Michael, going for an unexpected angle. When he felt his power hit it's max, he punched upwards, jumping up and allowing his wings to take flight as he did so.

With Michael riding on his fist, the punch deep in his belly, Connor flew higher and higher into the sky. He'd never felt power such as this before, even when using Kane's semblance, it was incredible. The golden light surrounding him and trailing as he continued to fly up at an incredible speed, taking Michael with him, he felt a new power emitting from him. When he reached a height he thought was high enough, he removed his fist from Michael, who at this point was already bruised, battered, and completely out of it, and flipped over in the air to be over him. He then drove his elbow down into his enemies back, shattering the metal wings, tail, and spine in one blow, but continued to drive it downwards. He descended with his elbow digging into Michael's back, falling down at an even faster speed than he had risen. When he hit the metal platform, he did so with a mighty smash. He slammed Michael down before him, instantly killing him and even having enough force to bend the metal ground around him and shake the entire naval base.

Sure that his opponent was down for the count, Connor rose to his feet, removing his elbow from Michael's back. The golden light around him hadn't yet dissipated, meaning he was still in Dragon State, even the wings still present. Feeling aches in his muscles, he flexed his arms and legs, trying to soften the bruising as he said down to his opponent, "Man, I really beat the heck out of you, huh?" Getting no answer, he looked down at Michael and called to him, "Hey, you dead?" After still receiving no answer, he muttered, "Guess so." He wasn't sure how he felt about that. On one hand he didn't want to kill people, but on the other he knew that these generals would kill them if they didn't fight back with all they had.

His train of thought was interrupted however, as he heard Mars call out his name. Looking over there, he saw that Mars and Damien were still trying to block the barrage of bullets being sent towards them by Jorge's mini gun, their shield looking as if it was going to break down any minute.

Jorge had no intention of letting up his gunfire, the aura from the tanks on his back keeping his ammo permanently full. He smirked to himself as he saw the shield growing weaker, sure of his victory. He then felt a presence to his right however, and turned his head in time to see Connor flying low to the ground in Dragon State towards him. Once he was within range, Connor punched a light enveloped fist downwards on the mini-gun, driving into the ground. The bullets continued to fire out of the multiple barrels, flying in different directions as they bounced off of the metal flooring of the platform. Connor signalled out to Damien and Mars, "Now!"

On that cue, the two brought down their shield to finally concentrate on attacking. Damien held his hands out in front of him, using his semblance to manipulate the air currents. Just as Connor jumped back from Jorge and prepared to roll away from the gunfire as Jorge picked his weapon back up, the air currents pushed down, knocking Jorge down on his stomach and pinning him there.

After that, Mars took of his long green coat and dropped it beside himself, looking forward to letting out his pent up battle lust after so long on the defence. "Now, Connor...let me show you how the masters do it." He declared, unbuttoning his green shirt and leaving it open, his muscly body on display. Green energy then circled around him, growing in strength until his entire body was cloaked in it, the green aura surrounding him like lightning and his eyes completely green as his shirt flapped about in the force the energy was creating. "I don't need a Kalos Crystal to get this powerful, unlike the rest of you! Mystic State!" Mars shouted out, holding his fists together and up above his head as storm clouds filled with green lighting appeared in the sky above the naval platform. "Secret Art!" He then yelled once more, bringing his joined fists down like a hammer. "Energy Drill!"

Right on his cue, the storm clouds crackled with green lightning, the ground shaking tremendously, Connor skidding back to where Mars and Damien were standing and staring in amazement. Suddenly, a giant flash of green energy come down from the storm, crashing right into the still pinned down Jorge like a massive lightning strike. It stayed for longer than lightning though, spinning like a drill and pulsing and sparking with incredible force, creating wind in its wake. When it finally faded, Jorge was unmoving, presumedly dead, Connor didn't know any human that could survive a blast of power such as that.

"That's Jenga..." Mars joked, buttoning up his shirt and picking up his coat before walking away from the scene, the green energy that had been around him now gone. Connor was left amazed by the spectacle he had witnessed, not only had Mars entered Mystic State without a Kalos Crystal, he'd used the most powerful attack Connor had ever seen and didn't even look worn out. If he, Jim and Kane worked for years they still might not come close to his might, he was leagues stronger than them combined. He might have actually taken it easy on them in the tournament fight.

Connor then suddenly remembered the state their allies were in. Jim and Kane were both unconscious on the ground and Yang and Irileth were still bleeding out. Realising this, he turned on his heel and starting running, hoping they were still alive. He stopped in his tracks however when three airships descended from above, their engines blowing a gust of wind over the platform as medics stepped out of it.

Backup had arrived.

Ending Music: https/youtu.be/KruXhNuindw [Naruto Shippuden OP 3 V2]

(Shows Damien on the left and Connor on the right)

Habata itara

(Shows Damien's flintlock pistol and Connor's Katana)

modoranai to itte!

(Shows Connor's eye, then Damien's eye, then Ruby's eye with a tear)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Connor on his knees in front of a shadowy figure)

aoi aoi no sora!

OUTLAWS AND OUTLAWS

(Shows Connor falling through the sky towards the naval platform) Kanashimi wa mada obeorarezu! Setsunasa wa ima tsukami

(Shows Connor floating next to Damien)

hajimete! Anata e to daku kono kanjou mo!

(Shows Ruby holding her hands to her chest)

Ima kotoba ni kawatte iku!

(Shows Jim with Stephane and Yang)

Michi naru sekai

(Shows Kane with Irileth)

no yume kara

(Shows Mars with Damien) mezamete!

(Goes back to Connor falling through the sky)

Kono hane wo hiroge

(He straightens himself mid-air and his fists glow with the golden light of his semblance)

tobitatsu!

(Shows the four generals in a circle)

Habata itara modoranai to itte! (Shows Mars, Jim, Connor and Kane)

Mezashita no wa

(Shows Mars and Damien fighting Jorge)

aoi aoi no sora!

(Kane and Irileth fire their semblances at Isabella) Tsukinuketara

(Shows Jim, Stephane and Yang fighting Wolf)

mitsukara to shitte! Furikiri

(Connor throws a punch at Michael)

hodo

(Shows Connor fist fighting Michael)

aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the four generals together) Aoi aoi

(Shows Daryl with a shadowy figure)

ano sora!

(Shows Connor standing up)

Aoi aoi ano sora!

(Shows the Beacon team standing on the naval platform in front of Daryl, the shadowy figure, and the four generals)

END