Chapter 30 – Topple the Troupe
Zollzero Mansion Grounds, Autumn Time,
Year X792
General Perspective
Kenji stood about five paces away from the Troupe, four blades ready; two in his hands, and two imbedded in the ground before him. The countdown was not quick, but equally was not slow, it was just… timed.
"Three…"
"Two…"
"One…"
By the end of the last number, all six of the highly trained swordsmen were in motion; Kenji rushed forward, entrenching the wooden blade in his right hand, and trading it out for the immolated sword before him, just in time to block the large, downward slash of Argent's greatsword, before diving sideways to dodge Vance's longsword. Hugo and Caspian both attempted to simultaneously attack from either side as Kenji was pinned by Argent's blade, however Kenji avoided this by pushing back against Argent, then fluidly delivered his own parrying swish to each of the two oncoming blades. With Hugo and Caspian momentarily unbalanced, Kenji took the opportunity to kick backwards, sending the sly dagger-wielding brunette. "Agh…" Andor gasped, as his breath was swiftly forced from his lungs by the hard kick that Kenji delivered.
Argent, regaining his balance from the previous push, attempted a side-swing to Kenji's neck, however the aged sword master effortlessly ducked under the clumsy attack, before delivering a sharp stab with his own blade at the muscular giant. Argent threw himself back, using his weight to dodge the attack, whilst Vance came up to Kenji's side, longsword aimed perfectly to skewer the katana-wielder's heart from under his ribcage. Kenji saw the attack coming, however he knew he couldn't dodge backwards like Argent just had, since Andor was quickly recovering behind him. Instead, with a slight smirk, the old man kicked his foot up, catching the ice-encrusted blade, pulling it up into the charging long-sword users way. Vance managed to avoid the sudden obstacle, however his aim was off now, and Kenji managed to parry the blow with his immolated katana. Hugo watched the small manoeuvre with intrigue, before noting a weak point in the old man's defences. Moving around and aiming to quickly dash in with one attack, the black-haired man tensed.
Kenji, however, was aware of the plan, and with a flick of his other hand, called upon the power of his third, un-immolated, un-frosted, steel blade. "Hidden Gale" he muttered, before a thin wave of air emitted from the katana blade, slicing through the distance between himself and Hugo. The black-haired swordsman sensed the invisible disturbance, and, realising what it was, jumped at the last second to avoid being cut cleanly in half. "Your Wind Spell will not work on me" he crowed as he successfully avoided the attack. Kenji did not reply as he was too busy dodging attacks from behind and to the side by Andor and Caspian respectively.
Successfully avoiding the attacks, whilst unsuccessfully attempting to land his own counter-jabs, Kenji and the Troupe each took a moment to catch their breath. "It seems… you've not forgotten the teamwork I drilled into you… at least" Kenji breathed, a little heavier than he would have liked. Am I getting too old for this? He thought to himself. Hugo shrugged at Kenji's remark.
"And you are just as skilled as always… although perhaps you are feeling the effects of your age more now, yes?" the black-haired rapier wielder mused, taking note of the elder man's state. Kenji smirked.
"Perhaps I am… but even so, that will not give you enough of an advantage to beat me, remember that" he laughed, before picking up the katana he kicked earlier and replacing it in the ground. Hugo allowed the man to take the time for that action; in his own mind, Hugo still believed they would win.
With the weapon replaced, Hugo decided to take his next move. "Now that we've caught our breath, shall we continue?" he asked. Kenji laughed.
"Took you long enough to recover" he stated. Hugo shrugged once more, before leaping the distance between himself and Kenji. The old man brought up his immolated katana to hold off the attack, before twitching his other blade to send out four consecutive slashes of wind to force the other charging members of the Troupe back, before pushing against Hugo. As the black-haired sabre user retreated to re-join his other team members, the Troupe changed up their strategy, before attacking again.
It still wouldn't work, though, since Kenji was, to absolutely every degree, a true Master of the sword. At least, it wouldn't work for a little while yet.
/
Sting sat with Natsu unconscious beside him, their bodies somewhat obscured from view by the slight inclination of the plateau. The White Dragon Slayer kept vigilant watch over the pinkette, eyes straying only every so often as he watched the amazing display of swordsmanship and skill in the duel between all five members of the Blade Troupe, and Kenji, their former master.
The blond silently noted how amazing it was the Kenji could keep up with the other warriors, and even more amazing was the determination both sides showed. "Ha, I bet Natsu would love to see this" Sting mumbled to himself, "It's pretty fucking cool" he added, still with no one listening.
With a momentary lull in the fight, Sting allowed himself to stare more intently at Natsu. The pink-haired Fire Dragon Slayer looked incredibly peaceful, which was surprising considering all the crazy stuff that was happening only a few steps away. The pinkette murmured in his sleep, making Sting chuckle. "Always sleeping deeply…" he muttered, before a voice interrupted his observation.
"How is he?" Rogue asked, Gray standing to his side. Whilst the Shadow Dragon Slayer placed his gaze on the pair, Gray kept watch over the duel. Before it began, Thomas had ordered everyone to watch and not interfere with battle, instead only taking action to protect Natsu whilst he slept, in order to conserve their magic power. The Archive Mage then ran off to a more secluded area of trees nearby in order to try and communicate with Arthur and the others inside. Sting matched Rogue's gaze; he could tell that his friend was asking this as one loving Dragon Slayer to another.
Sting smiled. "He's fine, I've seen him sleep like this plenty of times… there isn't anything wrong with him now" the White Dragon confirmed. Rogue gave a flicker of a smile, before returning his attention to Kenji, where the clash of steel was ringing louder and louder.
"You're slowing down now, old man" Hugo grinned, as he, Caspian, and Argent tried yet another three-pronged attack, whilst Vance and Andor moved around to perform a two-person back-attack.
"If I can have the time to slow down and still block your attacks, then why should I waste the additional effort and energy to continue fighting as before?" Kenji countered, a note of arrogance touching his voice that no one had heard before.
Sting looked to Rogue as the battle ensued. "Their teamwork isn't even half as good as ours" he mused. Rogue nodded in agreement.
"Yes, it seems like if they actually tried to work together properly, with well-co-ordinated, well planned strikes, as opposed to each person attacking on their own, they may have a small chance to win" the Shadow Dragon concurred. Gray looked to the pair as he heard this.
"You two really think you're the best at team work, don't ya?" he commented, in a tone somewhere between scolding Rogue, and sarcastically laughing. Sting shrugged.
"Well, we're not called the 'Twin Dragon's' for nothing" he responded, earning a nod of agreement from Rogue. Gray sighed, before a thought popped into his head and he ended up chuckling. Sting and Rogue gave confused expressions watching the Ice Mage do this.
Gray took a moment to enjoy these looks of bemusement, before explaining what he had just thought. "You remember when we were back around at Sabertooth, and we met these guys for the first time?" the Ice Mage prompted the pair, to which they both nodded. "Well, you remember what we were arguing about in that old building?" he asked. Sting narrowed his eyes in thought, whilst Rogue pouted. Neither managed to recall the event.
"All I remember was standing-off against those five swordsmen" Rogue stated after a moment, giving a small nod over to where Kenji and the others were still duelling. Gray smirked.
"Me and Natsu were poking fun at you 'cause you always take each other's side. I was just laughing now because I realised that despite everything, including our… relationships…" Gray was mindful with the word whilst Juvia was nearby, "You two still haven't really changed that much" Gray finished, just as a particularly loud thud sounded out. This was followed by a curse from Hugo and Andor, who appeared to have been kicked away by Kenji.
The older swordsman smiled at seeing his pupils on their rears, before scowling as Argent and Caspian made well-timed side-swipes with their respective blades in an attempt to either behead Kenji, in Argent's case, or disembowel him, in Caspian's case, or both, if they were both lucky enough to hit. Kenji narrowly avoided both of these fates, by bringing up his katana to block Caspian's scimitar, whilst also holding his other katana up over his shoulder in order to redirect Argent's greatsword up and narrowly over the top of his head. He probably lost a few grey hairs for this manoeuvre, however it saved him from losing his head instead.
Sting cheered quietly at seeing the perfect art of swordsmanship Kenji displayed. "Whoah, I've gotta get him to teach me how he can dodge so well like that" the White Dragon commented, just as another mumbling noise spewed out of Natsu's mouth. Looking over, Sting realised instantly that the pinkette was now awake.
"What the… hell happened?" Natsu asked groggily, looking over to his boyfriend, dark eyes trained only on the blond, and not the two dark-haired males beside him.
Sting smiled. "So ya finally wake up, sleepy dragon" he beamed, before running a hand over Natsu's cheek. The pinkette calmed a little at the contact, before sitting up.
"I… wait, why is Kenji fighting them alone? And why do I ache all over like I've been fighting?" Natsu continued to ask questions. Sting rolled his eyes.
"Basically, it turns out you got an extra cut by that scimitar-wielding creep, and then they put you to sleep and made you fight us in order to try and scare us. They were gonna use you as a hostage, but then I saved you… by punching you with my White Dragon Claw to paralyse and hold you down" Sting explained hurriedly, giving Natsu all the key details; any more than that would be a waste of time and breath, since Sting knew he'd just forget them anyways.
Natsu processed this information quickly, his eyes scanning over the scene before him with an almost predatory quality, before resting back on Sting. "I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked, concern clear in his tone.
Sting shook his head, taking note of the instantly relaxing affect that this seemed to have on the pinkette. "No, you managed to land one hit on me, but that was it… and it wasn't even that hard" Sting chuckled. Natsu smiled.
"So, I didn't hurt you with my punches, but you still hurt me with yours?" he commented, in a semi-accusing voice. Sting shrugged.
"I hit my lightest… but if that hurts you, I can't help it if you're weak" the White Dragon replied in a half-joking tone. Natsu scowled.
"I might just have to remind you how tough I am with another fight, just like back at the Grand Magic Games a year ago" Natsu boasted, before a sudden gasp from the girls nearby caught his, and their small groups, attention. Kenji was standing with four of the five Blade Troupe members around him, weapons trained to pierce him, whilst he was left wide open defending against a heavy, full-weighted overhead attack from Argent's greatsword.
"Damn… looks like I might be… getting a bit old for this" Kenji breathed heavily. The sweat dripped from all six fighters, proving how much effort they were having to put into this duel, however with his advanced age Kenji was definitely at a disadvantage now.
"Oh… what should we do? Help him?" Sting asked suddenly, as the group of Fairy Tail and Sabertooth wizards all crowded around, ready to leap to the old man's assistance. Haruki, however, thrust his hand out to stop them.
"Wait a minute…" he stated. The group were surprised by the oddly calm voice of the master swordsman's grandson, however they obeyed; after seeing Kenji fight properly, they all realised he could still have some trick up his sleeve.
/
Kenji stood confident, even in the face of such a situation as this, with four blades pointed and in close striking range. "You're done" Hugo smirked, before looking to his group. Kenji shook his head.
"Not yet!" he replied, before giving a sudden burst of resistance against the greatsword that he was trapped under. As he did so, he dropped the blades he was wielding at that moment, leaping back to avoid the downward fall of the heavy weapon. Argent growled at the act, however the hulking giant was too slow to react to Kenji's movements, as was the rest of the Troupe. Unfortunately, the older man could not grab his other two blades in time, and only managed to recover the wooden katana he had left implanted in the ground at the beginning of the duel.
The group of onlookers all cheered and nodded happily at Kenji's retreat, all except for Haruki. "Oh no…" the teen noted, earning confused looks from all of the guild wizards.
"What's wrong?" Erza asked the blond-dyed Bullet Mage.
Haruki frowned. "He didn't escape that hit…" he analysed.
Erza returned her gaze, more intently, to the older swordsman, as did many of the others. "I can… smell blood" Natsu commented, to which Rogue, and Sting nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, me too" Sting agreed verbally.
Haruki took a step towards his grandfather as the old man stood a little distance now away from his opponents. "Don't move!" Kenji barked, not looking away from his opponents for a moment. Haruki narrowed his eyes, however he obeyed his elder.
"Hmph… stubborn old man" the teen commented under his breath. Hugo watched the display with vague amusement, before raising his eyebrow.
"What are you going to do now, my former Master?" he asked in a mildly sarcastic tone of voice. "Hmm… you've lost two of your blades, and right now, your third is outside of your range. All that remains is that katana there in your hand. And even that isn't made of any metal that could do damage to us" Hugo continued.
Kanji smirked. "You may have separated me from the rest of my other weapons, however with the weapons I still have with me now, I can defeat you all" Kenji replied, before holding up his wooden blade. Hugo watched the action for a moment, before looking about his group.
Then they all laughed. "You have nothing left old man… we are going to kill you. Whether you wield that toy sword or not means nothing to us" Hugo chuckled.
Kenji shook his head. "It looks as though you have all forgotten why it was you asked me to train you… and also what the greatest trait of a warrior was… always keep your greatest weapon hidden until it is needed!" Kenji barked, before placing a hand to his chest. "And now… it's time for me to draw my own greatest weapon. Kitsune Blade… come forth, now" he finished, light gathering at his fingertips, that grew into a pool of glow over the muscular chest beneath his clothes.
The group watched on as from that light was drawn a fifth katana, different to the others that he had used. Unlike the other, plainer-looking weapons, this one was made of a faint purplish metal, and was adorned with a deep engraving running along the length of the blade. It also glowed slightly with a purplish hue of energy. Hugo and the others all took an instinctive step back from the new weapon, as did Sting, Rogue and Natsu. "That's… some very strong magic… it smells like… a demon?" Sting muttered in near awe as his eyes fixated on the so-called Kitsune Blade. Haruki smiled at the reactions of the Dragon Slayers.
"Yes, well… I suppose you could call it that" the teen spoke up, looking towards his grandfather with eyes dancing and full of pride. Erza looked towards the Bullet Mage with a frown.
"He has a demonic weapon?" she questioned him. Haruki shook his head.
"Not quite, although close. Demons, or at least the ones you're all probably familiar with, are largely composed of magic, or of demonic-particles. That sword over there is also a pure embodiment of magic, that is to say the embodiment of my grand-pops' soul…" Haruki explained, earning yet more confused looks from the guild mages surrounding him.
"So… it's his soul?" Lucy asked. Haruki nodded.
"Yup, basically that blade represents the very life essence of my grandfather… it's a technique passed down in my family. I can use it to create my own 'soul gun', but I never have needed to. To be honest I didn't think I'd ever see even gramps there use it, especially with the risks the technique involves" he commented.
The others all looked with greater intrigue as Kenji now stood off against the five sword masters with renewed vigour. Unfortunately, the wound he received from Argent's greatsword also meant he was fighting at reduced strength. Despite his initial reaction, Hugo smiled at the display. "So, you decided to call up your oh-so-mighty Kitsune Blade… that's… almost laughable" he mused, raising his sabre in a challenging gesture. "Whilst I admit that blade holds mighty power, it cannot alone save you from us. Perhaps had you used it nearer the beginning of the duel it may have been a threat, however now, with that injury, you will never be able to take us on. It's over" the black-haired male laughed scornfully.
Kenji smiled and shook his head. "Not yet, I still have one more trick up my sleeve… and here it is" with that the older man turned his wooden blade downwards, before thrusting the katana deep into the earth. "I invoke Spring's Renewal!" he called.
At the blades contact with the ground, a deep rumble sounded out. This was quickly followed by a blinding explosion of light from the very earth itself, that passed almost as quickly as it was summoned, leaving no visible trace of change upon the area save for the white spots dancing in everybody's vision.
Kenji, however, stood up strong; his face clear of any weakness, and his body clear of any wound. Hugo gave an annoyed grunt at the sight of his revived ex-master.
"Oh well that's just not fair" he cursed dryly.
/
As Kenji stood strong, the other mages grew restless. "How did he…" Lucy began, before trailing off as she realised how obvious her question sounded. Haruki grinned.
"His last trump card. You see, each of those katana holds a special power. The Autumn Blade can control Wind Magic, the Summer Blade can call forth flames, the Winter Blade can freeze anything on contact, and well… that last blade, the Spring Blade, can call forth the natural power of the earth to heal its wielder." Haruki explained, before making a slightly more pained face. "Unfortunately, that power can only be used once, and takes about a day to recharge, so… it looks like from here on out, we're going to be switching to Plan B" he added. Erza and the others all looked confused for a moment, before they recalled the pre-attack plan that Arthur and Thomas had lain out back at the guildhall a number of days prior. Haruki gave them all a minute to catch up, before he drew his weapons. "Follow my lead" he called out.
Kenji and the Blade Troupe both seemed surprised as the Fairy Tailer's, Sabertooth Dragon Slayers, and Zollzero marksman, all fell into line with Kenji. "What's this, deciding to intervene now, are we?" Hugo mused sourly.
Kenji looked to Haruki. "Haruki, you would interrupt our duel?" he asked. The Bullet Mage grinned.
"Sorry pops, but you already knew the plan" he replied, before a voice cut in.
"Yes, now that Kenji has weakened them, everybody is to proceed and summarily defeat their assigned target" Thomas's voice resounded out magically from a screen above the battle field. Hugo looked up to the screen, which displayed nothing more than the words SOUND, and scowled angrily.
"You Zollzero! After I'm done here, I'm coming for you personally Thomas. I'm going to drag you back to the Young Master's, and I hope they'll kill you slowly, where I can watch you die" the Troupe Leader cursed. Thomas' made no sound for a few moments, and since nothing was on the screen save the single word, it was very difficult to gauge the boy's response.
"Oh… sorry, were you saying something?" Thomas asked after a moment, voice distracted, "Only I'm a little busy preparing for your ultimate defeat, so if you don't mind" the transmission cut out instantly after that. Hugo's burning glare remained on the point in their air where the Archive screen had hovered for a few more seconds, before redirecting his gaze towards the group.
"Hmph… I will have to make do with you lot for the time being" he commented, voice barely on the edge of calmness.
Kenji smirked. "Were not gonna make it that easy for you" he replied. Hugo shrugged, before looking to his own group.
"You all have picked your targets?" he questioned Kenji and Haruki. The pair both nodded.
"Well assumed, yes we have our orders on who each of us should take on" Haruki stated. Hugo shook his head.
"Well then… perhaps we should resume our duel, this time… we can each enjoy a good one-on-one or one-on-two fight, hmmm?" Hugo replied, raising his blade and gesturing for his team to split up, taking positions a little farther away from each other. "Go on, we will wait for you to decide, before we cut you each down in our own way" Hugo smiled.
Haruki looked to the guild mages. "You all remember the plan?" he asked. They nodded, and began to take move toward their assigned targets.
Once each of them was in position, the third and final part of the plan proceeded; with five new fights braking out on the plateau.
/
First Match-up; Erza Scarlet vs. Argent
Erza went over to the area where she could face Argent, the greatsword wielder. The grey-haired giant barely said a word as she summoned up a blade into each of her hands. "You're Argent, correct?" the red-head asked with a voice as cutting and level as the weapons she wielded. Argent nodded.
"Yes. You're Titania, the supposedly 'most powerful woman' in Fairy Tail" the man replied, his statement genuine. Erza shrugged.
"I may be one of the most powerful women in Fairy Tail, however I cannot lay claim to such a title, no matter how many people say it" she responded. Argent smiled.
"Well, no matter. Even if you are semi-skilled in swordplay, I will still crush you. Here. Now" he commented, before holding his greatsword level with Erza. "Are you prepared?" he then asked, in a more formal challenge. Erza nodded.
"Of course, now come and get me" she called him out. Argent chuckled darkly.
"You may regret those words… Titania" he growled, before charging forward, mighty blade already in a striking arc as he neared Erza's position. The Requip Mage laughed, before jumping to one side, light engulfing her body as she did so. "Requip… Flight Armor" she called out, as the light was replaced with the familiar cheetah-inspired armour.
Argent didn't even bat an eye at the change, he simply continued his assault, swinging his blade as Erza nimbly dodged or avoided each attack, only going in to attack him when she saw an opening. Unfortunately, Argent was as quick as he was strong, and the red-head never managed to land a successful blow of her own.
"You are… very skilled…" Erza commented, after a few minutes of battling. Argent smirked, but remained untalkative. "I've faced many opponents, but none with both your strength and your speed" she added, seeing if this would prompt the other to respond. He did not.
"Alright then, if speed won't work… let's try offense" she stated, as light once again transformed her armour. "Requip" she called out, as her outfit once more changed, this time into a much less armoured set of red, flame-patterned trousers. The blades in her hands changed too, from a pair of matching blades, to a single greatsword; her Purgatory Sword. Argent actually showed some interest after his eyes locked onto Erza's new sword.
"So, you want to fight with me, using the same type of sword? Blade for blade?" he laughed. "You'll die" he added after a moment. Erza confidently hefted her sword before her, smirking.
"We'll see" she replied, before rushing forward herself this time, swinging her own great blade in a bone-shattering arc that forced Argent instantly into a defensive stance, his sword raised vertically to block her horizontal swing. Erza didn't stop there, though; with continued force she drove the burly male back a step, using the moment of unbalance to knock him further. Argent growled at the action.
"It's been a while since I have faced a person with as much skill in greatswords as you have… I guess I'll have to use my advantage" he smiled viciously, before holding up his blade, runes along the hilt shimmering for a moment. As the runes faded, nothing appeared to have changed, yet Erza still felt uneasy. Thomas' warning from the guild rang in her head. I have to defeat him quickly… before he gets too strong she noted to herself, just as Argent tensed his muscles once more, signalling his intent to attack.
From seeing his previous attacks against Kenji, Erza already knew what to expect from her opponent, and the first strike was predictable to her; an overhead, downward slash. She evaded this easily, lunging in to deliver her own counter-attack, however something unexpected happened. Argent shifted his weight, and turned his sword to deliver a second follow up attack. Unprepared for this, Erza had to quickly roll sideways, bringing her own blade up to stop the blow from hitting her. He's fighting differently from before… is this because he's fighting one-on-one? She thought for a moment, before she was distracted by another vicious attack from the silver-haired swordsman.
"Angh…" Argent snarled, as he hefted his blade up with ease, doing a criss-cross of slashes, which Erza, more prepared now, managed to evade and parry with a little less difficulty than before. "Kill…" Argent breathed in between blows. Erza frowned. Could this be the power of the sword then? Has he given up on thinking for more power? Perhaps I should try with two swords instead of one… ideas filled her head, however she was left with little time to process them as she once more had to deflect, avoid, and parry yet more attacks from Argent. Despite his earlier fight, he did not seem close to tiring, Erza noted.
With a moment to think as Argent seemed to be waiting for her to make the next move, Erza decided she would put her faith in the information and strategies proposed by Thomas and Arthur back at the guild. "Requip!" she called out once more. I cannot use any more magic, otherwise I won't have enough after this to help Arthur and the other's she thought as she sought out the final armour she hoped would be enough to defeat this animalistic foe.
Clad in black scale armour, but with only a single blade in her hand, Erza stood proud before her foe. "With my Black Wing Armour, I will defeat you" she called out, earning a scornful look from Argent, but no words. The silver-haired male did not make any noise at all, save a low growling as he leapt the distance between them, heavy sword held as though it was nothing more than a butter knife. He made three slashes at Erza, however with her new armour, she easily evaded them all with jumps and small flights.
Angrily glaring, Argent did not stop his attack, despite it's obvious flaws, although he did change from a constant sequence of swings and slashes, to a more powerful selection of downward, upward and horizontal slashes that took full advantage of his large body's weight to cause maximum damage; with each missed swing, the ground got more and more torn up. Erza smirked as she continued to dodge these strikes, her Black Wing Armour providing her with the perfect balance of evasiveness and defence. After a few more minutes of the attack, Argent eventually stopped, breathing heavily. He continued to eye Erza predatorily in the meanwhile.
The red-head maintained eye-contact with her foe. "Strength alone is not what a warrior should strive for. Mastery of the weapon is first and foremost, and maintaining a cool, tactical mind in combat a close second" she stated, before giving a little smirk "You, however, choose to sacrifice these things in order to increase your strength and attack potential. This is why you will lose" she added a little more confidently. Argent's eyes widened hearing this, the still-human part of him broiling at being lectured.
"I will not… lose…" he snarled, before tensing his body once more. "This next attack… will finish… you!" he added, before leaping a lot faster and stronger than he had previously. Erza smirked as her plan came to fruition.
With a carefully executed sidestep manoeuvre, avoiding the large blade that was aimed perfectly at where she stood only moments ago, Erza delivered a single blow to Argent's exposed stomach, leaving a large, but not overly deep, gash across the man's torso. "Argh!" the silver-haired male bellowed, as he fell to one knee in agony, sword quickly turning from a death-bringing tool, to a crutch to help him stand despite the wound. "You…" he began, before another stab of pain shot through him from the wound.
Erza smirked. "Strength isn't everything in battle, a warrior must also be aware of their surroundings, and of the weaknesses in their opponents" she stated "Although that sword is deadly, it is also very heavy. You cannot wield it without opening up that wound further" she added in a more analytical tone. Argent growled but did not say anything further. "Will you settle down and not cause any more issues for us?" she asked the man, pointing the tip of her own blade so that it was barely a few centimetres from Argent's face. The silver-haired male glared at her for a moment, before hanging his head.
"It seems I cannot do anything more…" he admitted. Erza smiled, nodding in acknowledgement of the Troupe-members acceptance of defeat.
"Good, now let go of your blade and allow me to tie you up with these ropes; then I will tend to that wound. The others have not yet finished their own fights it seems" Erza stated, briefly glancing around the other areas, where other battles were being fought.
/
Second Match-up; Gray Fullbuster and Rogue Cheney vs. Vance
Rogue and Gray stalked over to face their assigned foe; Vance, the brunette longsword-user. "Hmm… so the two of you are to be my opponents then?" Vance asked as he observed the various groups that formed after the stand-off. Rogue nodded, whilst Gray smirked.
"Yeah, we're gonna beat you and your stupid 'cursed sword' down into the ground" the Ice Mage commented cockily. Vance smirked at the challenge.
"You are?" he responded. "But surely it would be more efficient for you to go and help your friend over there, Argent is our strongest after all" he added with a note of amusement to his voice. Gray shot the brunette a self-assured smile.
"Erza can handle herself. We're here to take you on, so stop looking at the other groups and just keep your eyes on us" the dark-haired Ice Mage commented with clear confidence in his guildmate's skill. Vance shook his head dismissively at this display.
"How annoying… however, no matter. I guess I will have to take the more efficient move then, and take you out quickly, so I can support my allies" he responded, with a vague scowl, before making two slashing motions in the air about his person. "Although I suppose I should be thankful that you two are my opponents" he added, earning slightly confused looks from Gray and Rogue.
"What do you mean by that?" the Shadow Dragon Slayer asked in a blunt voice.
Vance smiled. "Well, of the two potential couples that I could have had as opponents, you are the much more preferable choice. Unlike the White and Fire Dragon Slayer's over there, you are much quieter, and a lot less annoying. You're also hardly as much of a fight as them too, I suspect" he replied. Gray and Rogue gave angry expressions upon hearing this.
"How do you know about us?" they both growled in perfect sync. Vance laughed.
"Although it looks like Caspian was more successful than I, did you really think we were only observing one of your group?" he responded in a deep chuckle. Despite his laughter, Vance's eyes still held an air of predatory nature to them, as if he was watching the two mages reaction's intently.
Gray was first to speak after receiving this information. "If you have been watching us, the you already know how strong we are" he said, in a small attempt to regain the confidence he held only moments ago. Vance shrugged.
"I say what I see, and what I saw was you and Rogue spending a lot of time together, doing very little in the ways of training" he mused. Rogue gave a little blush.
"We don't spend that much time together" he stated. Vance raised an eyebrow.
"Well, you were at Sabertooth for a while I suppose, but still, at the times you were together, you spent almost all of your time with one another. I suppose that would be romantic or something, however it just seems to me to be a massive waste of time" he stated. Gray tensed hearing this.
"Don't call our relationship a waste of time!" he barked, "I love spending time with Rogue, I will not allow you to call it useless…" he added. Vance shrugged.
"It doesn't matter. The fact remains that I know I can defeat you. It's logical to assume that Thomas has already warned you of our abilities, so you will already know that with my blade I can cause immense pain to my opponents. Thanks to your relationship, by striking one of you, the suffering of your partner will cause you to become distracted and then… I will end the pair of you right then and there" Vance smiled wickedly as he elaborated on this, making a few choice predictions that he knew would shake the duo. Gray smiled upon hearing that.
"That's not gonna happen" he stated, before an icy mist rose up from his body, signalling his preparedness to attack, "Because we are gonna knock you down before you can even touch one of us with that stupid sword" he added, looking to Rogue. The Shadow Dragon knew instantly what Gray was going to do, and immediately he used his magic to dissolve into shadows, manoeuvring into a position behind Vance. The brunette watched the pair for a moment, gauging what they were going to do.
A moment went by, no more than two heartbeats, if that. Then they attacked.
"Ice Make; Hammer" Gray called out, a large hammer of ice crashing down onto Vance's position. The brunette dodged the attack, however as he jumped to the side, Rogue leapt out from the shadows and lashed out with a shadowy draconic talon. Vance was already prepared for the attack, however, and the second the black-haired Dragon Slayer reappeared, the longsword was already arcing towards him.
Seeing the blade, Rogue gave up on his attack, and instantly re-faded into darkness, repositioning whilst Gray summoned up two icy swords into his hands, rushing forward and slashing at the swordsman. Vance chuckled at the attempt. "You aren't even anywhere near close to my skill level with those little blades of yours" he laughed, before making a slashing gesture that sent Gray sprawling away, the icy swords being cut up into tiny pieces.
As Vance pursued Gray, the Ice mage rolled away from his follow up slash, and countered with a rain (or rather a hail) of ice-arrows. Rogue watched for a moment, as Gray put distance between himself and the swordsman, and decided to try another strategy of his own devising. Un-shadowing himself once again, he prepared his next spell. "Shadow Dragon Roar" he bellowed, sending a large burst of shadows and darkness billowing down towards the swordsman. Vance barely even took note of the attack, yet he still dodged it with ease, leaping to the left, before sidestepping right and lunging towards Gray in stabbing attack. Gray countered by conjuring up a wall of ice to act as an obstacle, which Vance had to cut through. In his moment of imbalance, striking down the wall, Rogue used the shadows one more time to cover the distance between himself and the swordsman, aiming to deliver what he hoped would be the last attack of this short duel. "Shadow Dragon Sla-" he called out as he approached, only to be cut off as he came eye-to-eye with the brunette.
"Got you" he stated, his blade slashing Rogue's leg as the Dragon Slayer desperately attempted to return to the shadows.
With a large thud, the Shadow Dragon fell to the floor as he was struck, an annoyed grunt sounding out. "Hmph…" Rogue breathed as the initial pain struck him.
Vance smiled. "And so, the first part of my prediction comes to pass. Now to ensure that you suffer" he stated, with an almost childish-glee to his voice that completely contradicted the cold demeanour he had displayed earlier. Holding his blade level to Rogue, Vance concentrated his magic power, the length of the longsword glowing with an eerie reddish aura. A few moments later, the curse took effect, and the heavy breathing and grit-teethed groans turned into gasps of pain all emanating from the Shadow Dragon Slayer's mouth. Gray watched in horror as Rogue suffered.
"You damned… freakin'…" he couldn't finish his sentence. Before he even realised it himself, the Ice Mage was barraging the swordsman with all manner of icy projectiles. Swords, lances, cannons and cannonballs, arrows, hammers… the seemingly never-ending stream of Ice Make creations never even came close to striking the man, however it did put some distance between him and the Shadow Dragon Slayer, enough that Gray could come to kneel by his lover's side. "Rogue… are you… ok?" Gray asked in a worried, unsure voice, as he wrapped an arm around Rogue and tried to get him to sit up. The Shadow Dragon groaned in protest.
"Everywhere… hurts" he complained. Gray frowned.
"I know, look… let me see where he cut you" he stated, before brushing aside Rogue's clothes. The wound was not deep, barely even a scratch, yet it seemed to very nearly incapacitate the Dragon Slayer.
"It's alright, it's just a… small cut… I won't…" Rogue could finish his words as another burning spasm of pain shot through his body, making him clench his teeth tight against its violent attack. Gray looked over to the source of the curse, Vance, who was holding up his blade, eerie crimson glow becoming brighter as he continued to point the blade's tip towards Rogue.
"I told you this would happen. I said that I would strike one of you, and that the other would become distracted, as you have. Now all that remains is for me to strike you both down. Are you prepared?" Vance's normally blank face contorted into a wicked, knowing smile. Gray scowled angrily at him.
"Like hell I'm ready, I'm not ever gonna let you strike me down. Or Rogue!" he barked in challenge. Vance shrugged.
"I've wasted enough time on you, whether you're prepared or not, I will finish you off… now!" he stated, before beginning to rush forwards, sword angled to his side so that he could slice his opponents the moment he got within reach. Gray read his opponents stance, and reacted hurriedly. With his hands together, and Rogue by his side, the dark-haired Ice Mage conjured up as much magic as he could, as quickly as he could, concentrating it all into as many structures as he could manage. Right before Vance's eyes cannons, blades, walls and other defences, spikes and many, many spears all appeared, in numbers that put the earlier barrage to shame. With a slight smirk at his own handiwork, Gray commanded the weapons to fire.
Vance stopped for a brief second to realign his path before resuming his charge, tackling the oncoming wave of attacks with skill and grace. Dodging and weaving, slicing and stabbing, the brunette swordsman slowly, but surely, made his way towards Gray. It only took a few moments; however, those moments would prove crucial to the overall result of this battle, and the Ice Mage knew this.
As soon as Vance cleared the last obstacle, carefully dodging a final few spears in the process, the brunette lunged at Gray, once more with the intent to slice him in two with his longsword. "It's over!" Vance crowed, as his blade shattered through the hastily made ice sword that Gray raised up in defence. The Ice Mage smirked.
"Not yet" he chuckled. Vance shook his head.
"Yes… it… is!" the brunette replied, adding a note of finality to his voice as he brought his blade down on Gray.
At that moment, Rogue, who had been concentrating with all his willpower, sat up, a powerful-looking aura of darkness completely enveloping his person that quickly slid down and covered his fist. "Shadow Dragon Slash!" he commanded, the shadows batting the oncoming longsword away, before striking Vance in the legs and sending him sprawling to the floor.
"Ack… how…?" he gasped as his own pain shot up from where Rogue struck him. Gray smiled.
"You'd be surprised how stubborn Dragon Slayers are when their boyfriends are about" Gray chuckled, before raising his newly made Ice Sword so that it was pointing towards the brunette. "Now, are ya gonna surrender and let us tie you up?" he asked.
Vance scoffed. "I would never demean myself by begging for mercy" he replied, "I think I would rather die" he added, his eyes meeting Gray's, something within them challenging the Ice Mage to carry out his unspoken threat.
Gray shrugged. "Well, we tried" he stated, before dropping the sword and waving his arm, calling upon his Devil Slayer spells. Vance didn't have a moment to protest before he was frozen solid, the same stupidly daring expression still on his iced-over face.
With the threat neutralised, Gray turned to Rogue. "Come on, let me patch you up" he said. Rogue shook his head.
"It's fine. The second you froze him the curse stopped, so there's nothing to worry about. You said it wasn't deep yourself" Rogue commented, moving to sit up. Gray frowned.
"Don't be stupid, that was a freakin' sword, of course it's bad, it's just not as bad as it could have been" he stated, moving to pin the Shadow Dragon Slayer down so that he could tend to him more easily. Rogue met Gray's intense stare, and noted the caring shine in the Ice Mage's eyes. With a slight shrug he lay down and behaved himself.
After all, it seemed like aside from Erza, who was busy conversing with a tightly-bound Argent, the others were still fully invested in their individual bouts. Guess I can enjoy a few minutes with Gray, somewhat alone… he thought to himself.
/
Third Match-up; Juvia Lockser and Lucy Heartfilia vs. Andor
With the other's taking their places, Lucy and Juvia looked to each other, and then moved in tandem towards their own target; the youngest, and most arrogant, Andor. "Awww… I've got you two ladies as my opponents?" the dagger-wielder stated rhetorically in a complaining tone, as the two female wizards took their places opposite him.
Lucy smiled confidently in the face of their foe. "Yeah, you've got us to deal with" she stated brazenly.
Juvia nodded. "Yes, and we have no intention of losing to you" the Water Mage added on, earning a contempt-filled smile from the teenage swordsman.
"Ah, well isn't that funny. I suppose you should prove to be a little entertaining at least… what with that interesting body of yours" the boy looked at Juvia with a badly-concealed intrigue, that made the blue-haired woman's skin crawl. "Hugo also mentioned you're at least somewhat skilled in magic. Let's test his analysis, shall we?" every word Andor spoke dripped with overconfidence. It rattled Juvia and Lucy to no end.
"We won't let you even come close to touching us with that dagger of yours, knowing what it can do and all" Lucy called out, her hand instinctively reaching for her keys as she sensed that the battle was about to begin. Andor followed the blonde's hand for a moment, before taking note of the keys.
"Oh, you're a Celestial Wizard?" he asked, gaining a little nod from Lucy as confirmation. "Well then you should prove no challenge at all" he stated with venom that made Lucy reel of a moment.
"What do you mean 'no challenge at all'?!" Lucy barked back after recovering from the insult.
Andor laughed and raised his arms upwards. "You expect me to take a mage who can't even fight for themselves seriously?" he replied. Juvia crossed her arms as she heard Andor belittling her guildmate.
"So, we should take an annoying child like you seriously?" she mused. Lucy smirked at this comment and nodded in concurrence.
"Yeah, what evidence is there that you're really a threat to us?" she responded. Andor cracked a smile at these words, before his hand rested on the hilt of his dagger at his belt.
"You're seriously asking that question?" he stated rhetorically, before he instantly leapt the distance between their positions. "How about I show you why you should take me seriously!" he then barked, bringing his blade up to cut at Juvia.
Before the Water Mage could react in defence, and before Andor could even manage to finish his preliminary attack, Lucy already had a golden key in her hand. "I won't let you touch anyone with that weapon!" Lucy called out, before sending forth her magic, a spirit, clad in their usual suit, appearing beside her.
"You want me to fight this guy?" Leo (or perhaps Loke?) asked, cracking his knuckles. Lucy smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, beat him fast… but don't let him cut you with that dagger, or else he'll curse you" she warned. Leo smiled.
"I'll knock him out quickly then, so that I don't have to see you two lovely ladies get hurt" he grinned, before rushing forward, golden light enveloping his fists.
Andor turned to face the oncoming Celestial Spirit with a slight smirk. "I've never fought a Celestial Zodiac Spirit before… let's see what you gold-key guys are made of" he laughed, before rushing toward Loke and meeting him blow for blow with his free fist.
"Ha… quick one aren't ya" the Lion Spirit commented, as he dodged a sweep of the deadly blade, before delivering his own quick light-infused jab that sent Andor leaping back to give himself some distance.
Lucy and Juvia watched in awe as the two men fought without either of them landing a successful blow. Eventually, whilst breathing heavily, Loke held his hands up. "Alright, seems like you really are strong… but let's see how you do with this!" he stated, before moving to instead stand with his arms together in a guarding stance. "Lion's Brilliance!" he called out, bright golden light emanating out from his person and engulfing the whole area. Realising his plan, Lucy called out to Juvia, and the pair shielded their eyes from the glow.
As the light subsided however, the scene was not what Lucy hoped it would be; in fact, it was worse. Andor smirked wickedly as he stood with his dagger raised, the blade stabbed perfectly into Leo's chest. "You… managed to get me… when you couldn't… see…?" the Lion Spirit muttered in confusion.
Andor chuckled. "I was trained to fight blind when I was eight, so it wouldn't really matter, however you didn't blind me" the teenager swordsman commented. Leo furrowed his brow, as his body began to fade slightly, his person returning to the Celestial Spirit World to recuperate.
"I… didn't?" he asked.
Andor laughed. "If you want to know why, the blame lies with your summoner, not you. Thank you for so loudly shouting out your warning, little miss" Andor looked directly at Lucy as he said this. Lucy gave a look for slight horror, as she realised the error she made.
"Oh… but…" she couldn't think of anything to say in her defence. Leo looked to his owner as he faded.
"Don't worry Lucy, it was just a little slip up. I'm sorry I didn't manage to dodge his attack; however, you've still got plenty more of us to use to beat this guy, right?" the Lion Spirit smiled before he vanished back to the Spirit World.
Andor watched the Lion disappear, before staring back at the two female mages. "Now… where were we?" he asked cockily, before beginning to rush towards the pair again. "Ah, yes… I was going to take out the only threat here" he added, as he raised his blade once more, this time aiming it directly for Juvia.
The Water Mage frowned, before raising her hand and releasing a jet of water in an attempt to hit the advancing swordsman. Andor dodged this without much effort, before leaping up in order to avoid any follow up attacks, his blade plunging into Juvia's shoulder as he brought it down forcefully. "Now I've… got you…" he trailed off as he watched the blade sink into the pale skin without any obvious effect.
"No, you don't" Juvia replied confidently, "My body is made entirely of water, you cannot harm me with your weapon" she explained. Andor scowled, before leaping away in order to avoid being sucked into the watery woman's form.
"It seems like Hugo wasn't lying about you being annoying then" he commented annoyedly, "But the curse in my blade should still affect you, since I did hit your body at least" he added after a moment. Juvia shook her head.
"I've already been stabbed by that man, and as you can see, I'm unaffected… that was why I was chosen to be your opponent" she replied, earning a scornful look from the brunette teen.
"Yeah, that and the fact Gray asked you to" Lucy piled on. Juvia looked to the blonde wizard, standing only a few paces away.
"Don't you ever mention my beloved's name, rival!" she snapped. Lucy frowned.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I am not interested in Gray!" she responded in a defensive tone.
Andor glared furiously at the pair. "Don't forget it's me your supposed to be facing!" he barked angrily; if there was one thing the teen hated more than anything else it was being ignored.
Lucy smiled. "Alright then, but how are you going to beat us if you can't get your curse to work?" the blonde asked cockily.
Andor smiled. "Are you so sure it didn't work, only your friend there doesn't seem quiet as upright as she was before I attacked her" he replied. At Andor's comment, Lucy looked over to see Juvia on one knee, a pained looked to her face as one hand held her head.
"Juvia, are you okay?" the Celestial Spirit Mage asked. Juvia glanced to her guildmate for a second, before returning her gaze to the brunette swordsman.
"I'm… fine. It's just a headache…" she stated as she unsteadily rose to her feet. "I won't let myself be beaten so easily, not with Gray fighting so hard" she added with a little more confidence in her voice.
"Tch…" Andor scowled. Lucy nodded in understanding.
"Alright, let's beat this guy quickly, then we can see about that headache" she motioned to reach for her keys. Andor registered the action and was running towards them long before she could reach for her keys.
"I can't afford to waste any more time here" he growled, "So just die already!" with that curse he leapt towards the pair, dagger trained and ready to strike at Lucy. Suddenly, however, the brunette stopped moving; not because he couldn't, but rather because something very heavy had materialised around him.
"Water Lock!" Juvia called out, one hand raised towards the attacking male, whilst the other grasped at her temple.
Lucy smiled at her ally. "Thanks, Juvia!" she stated, before pulling out one of her keys and using it to call forth another spirit. In a flash of golden light Sagittarius, the horseman-archer stood, arrow rapidly being trained onto the captured dagger-wielder. "What do you want me to do, my lady?" he asked in his usual upbeat manner.
Lucy smiled. "If he tries to leave that bubble, shoot him down… but don't kill him" she instructed. Andor looked at the pair through the watery haze, his glare burning through the trap with enough force that it might actually turn the liquid to steam.
"You…" he mumbled, as he tried to use his training and calm himself so that he wouldn't drown too quickly. As he tried to meditate, an idea occurred to him, and with a flourish, Andor brought up his dagger, channelling as much of his power into it as he could. The effect was almost instantaneous. With a loud cry, Juvia fell to her knees, clutching at her temples.
Andor smiled at his work, however the Water Lock did not fall. Not yet. Lucy rushed over to her friend's side as Juvia battled through the strange side-effect of Andor's curse to maintain her prison. "Juvia?" Lucy tried to see how she could help the Water Mage, however there was nothing that she could think of.
"I can't hold it much… longer… you need to…" Juvia didn't finish her sentence as she collapsed, the Water Lock realising with her fall.
Drenched, but still conscious, Andor had enough time to give a short laugh, before the rain of arrows fell down upon him. Without the water, he was easily nimble enough to dodge the attacks of the horseman spirit, as he slowly made his way over to the man. "Once I've… dealt with you… I'm gonna go take away that damned water-woman's sight… then when she wakes up blind, maybe I'll take away her hearing…" Andor ran through his plans for Juvia as Sagittarius continued his barrage of arrows.
Watching with horror, Lucy tried to think of all the things she could do to stop this deadly foe. Just as he came upon the archer, however, a new idea struck Lucy, and with as much speed as she could muster, she brought out a third golden key. Andor was too distracted attacking the horseman to notice the small actions of the blonde, however he would soon regret his oversight, as the ground beneath him gave way, and a pink-haired girl in a maid-outfit popped out.
"What should I do now, Princess?" Virgo asked. Lucy smiled as she gave her final command.
"Tie him up, as tight as you can" she stated. Virgo nodded, before throwing out her arms and, using the chains on her wrists, managed to capture once more the brunette. "Mission accomplished, Princess" the Celestial Spirit commented. Lucy smiled.
"Good work, Virgo, you too Sagittarius" she stated. The horseman bowed, before disappearing back to the Celestial Spirit Realm.
"I'm glad to be of service, my lady" he said as he went. Once Sagittarius was gone, Lucy had just enough energy to tie the rope around Andor, and with a little help from Virgo, keep him under wraps whilst she tended to Juvia. Looking about, Lucy could see that Gray and Rogue, as well as Erza, were all finished with their respective tasks.
Signalling to the Ice Mage, Lucy managed to get some help and brought Juvia over to where Rogue was resting. Lucy briefly glanced at the Shadow Dragon Slayer, taking note of the wound he had received in his fight, before she continued to tend to the Water Mage. Gray looked at Juvia's condition.
"How is she?" he asked cautiously. Lucy frowned.
"I think she'll be okay, but I've sent Virgo to go and find Wendy and bring her here" the blonde stated. Gray nodded.
"That's a good idea, Rogue needs to be checked out too" he commented, before looking over to Natsu and Sting. "Now let's just hope no one else will need her help, otherwise I don't think we're gonna be of much use to Arthur and the other's when we arrive" he stated. Lucy nodded.
"Yeah… I wonder how they are doing?" she stated. Gray shrugged.
"Who knows, but with their crazy power they can't be making it easy for their opponents, right?"
Lucy nodded. "Yeah" she agreed, "Let's just hope that's true".
/
Fourth Match-up; Sting Eucliffe and Natsu Dragneel vs. Caspian
Caspian eyed up the two Dragon Slayers who came to stand before him. "So, you two are my opponents… I figured as much" the red-head laughed as the White and Fire Dragon Slayer's narrowed their gazes onto their joint quarry.
"We volunteered to take you on" Sting stated in a flat and unwelcoming tone.
Natsu nodded. "Yeah, this'll be payback for that night at the bar… and for whatever creepy stuff you did in that hotel" the pinkette added, his voice tinged with anger already.
Caspian smirked at Natsu's unbridled rage. "Ah ha, they told you what I did I take it, or rather… what you did" the red-head smiled broadly as he pointed with his scimitar toward the pair.
Natsu growled lowly at the action. "You made me fight Sting… hurt Sting…" he stated in reply. Sting registered the loose control in Natsu's words, and reached out for the pinkette.
"Don't go losing your composure yet, Natsu" he whispered carefully, before meeting Caspian's gaze; the red-head didn't even seem to bat an eye at the slight contact or exchange between the pair. Sting narrowed his eyes once more at the swordsman whom they had to defeat. "You can't threaten us with that curse any more, since Thomas blocked it" he stated, trying to keep his composure a little more than his boyfriend was able.
Caspian raised an eyebrow at Sting's comment. "So, he did, however that doesn't mean I can't curse you, Mr Eucliffe. Like I said before I have yet to give you a little one of my presents" Caspian smirked slyly as he said this. Once more Natsu tensed, however he remained impassive under Sting's touch. The White Dragon Slayer silently thanked Natsu for not charging in, yet.
"I doubt your curse will work on me, what with how weak it is. I'm not as easy to put to sleep as Natsu is" Sting smirked in mock-confidence as he said this, earning a vaguely disproving glance from Natsu, who would probably have objected to the comment if he hadn't already been proven wrong by being captured earlier. Caspian, on the other hand, gave a very tense look, as if he was trying very hard not to show anger. He's just like Natsu… in fact, all of them seem to be; if you call them weak, or make fun of their curses then they get really angry really fast… now if we can just get him to come to us… the White Dragon Slayer plotted carefully.
After a brief moment, Caspian retaliated to the blonde's comment. "If my power is so weak, it makes me wonder just how weak a person must be to be affected by it then?" he said this entirely whilst looking at Natsu. The Fire Dragon Slayer rallied at the statement.
Growling once more, the pinkette tensed to pounce, however Sting held him firm, a smile on his face. "Natsu is weak, in many ways" he agreed, earning a look of complete disbelief from the pinkette that in any other situation Sting might've called 'cute'.
"Stiiiiing…" he whined in slight shock. Sting smirked brighter seeing the 'cute' expression on Natsu's face.
"Yes, Natsu is weak in many ways; he's loud, impulsive, and really short tempered. He always picks fights, even when he doesn't need to, and he easily gets distracted… however despite all these weaknesses, he's also strong, cute, and most importantly caring. He cares for me, and for others, and he wouldn't ever let someone as low as you get to him" Sting gave Natsu a hooded look of warning as he mentioned this last bit, before continuing. "So, even if he is weak, I still love him, and I wouldn't ever ask him to change… and I hope that he won't, for anyone or anything" Sting turned away from Caspian and instead looked towards Natsu as he said this. The pinkette was practically cooing at the little speech his boyfriend just gave.
"Sting…" he breathed again, this time with a happier note to his voice. Caspian watched the brief affair for a moment, before butting in.
"You two are really something" he laughed, dragging the pair's attention back to him after only a few minutes. Both Dragon Slayers looked to him with contempt. "You're sickening, and so… so annoying it's unbelievable. What makes it worse is that you actually believe in everything you say, just like that goddamned bastard Hugo. I can't stand idealists, and what's worse…" the red-head gave a very sour expression as he clutched his blade tighter, "I can't even bear to look at fools who idolise each other, so… just die already, and take all that lovey-dovey crap with you" with that outburst Caspian charged forward, scimitar held ready as he sliced through the air, aiming for Sting's shoulder.
"I'm gonna make you fight each other" the scimitar-wielder added, "Then you'll see that regardless of what you feel you will ultimately bow down to me" Caspian tried to land a blow, however Sting was too fast for him, and within moments he was already too far forward, with both of the Dragon Slayers positioned behind him.
"Looks like you aren't gonna be putting a curse on me after all" Sting chuckled, as he and Natsu stood shoulder-to-shoulder against the scimitar wielder.
"Really?" he asked, sarcastically, "Why ever not?"
Sting and Natsu smiled viciously. "Because this is where we beat ya" Natsu laughed, before looking to Sting. "Right?" he asked, seeking confirmation.
Sting nodded. "Right" he confirmed, "So let's do it. White Dragon-" Sting began concentrating his magic power to his mouth. Natsu did the same.
"Fire Dragon…" he mirrored only a second later.
"ROAR!" the barked in unison, each unleashing a wave of magic that surged forth towards their target, a beautiful display of power in an all-consuming blast of light and flame. Caspian looked on the attack with awe, just as it struck him.
Smiling at their work the pair failed, momentarily, to notice something that should have otherwise been obvious to them. "You two look pleased with yourselves" Caspian chirped up, standing exactly where he had a few moments ago, before the brash charge. Natsu and Sting's heads snapped around in unison upon hearing the voice.
"How did you…?" Natsu trailed off, as he met the gaze of the chuckling red-head.
Sting frowned, a few memories of the night outside the bar filtering through his consciousness. "Illusion Magic… but strong enough to fool our senses?" the White Dragon ventured a guess. Caspian laughed at the pairs confusion, before shrugging.
"That's not totally correct, but yes. Unlike my fellow Troupe-members, I have split my focus between learning the sword and learning magic. As such, I am not so narrow-minded as to believe totally in my blade" Caspian explained, before holding up his sword. "Whilst it might also be true that my power alone is not strong enough to beat a Dragon Sayer's, nor are my illusions good enough to fool your senses ordinarily, by combining my swords power and my own, I become something much more… I become a true Master of Illusion, capable of tricking the strongest of senses, and striking from where my opponent least expects" Caspian gave a little mock bow of confidence.
Sting narrowed his eyes upon the red-head as he said this. "So why didn't you attack us just now, then?" he questioned, "We should've been open enough for you to maybe get a strike in… if you're lucky" the blonde's voice was firm, but honest. Caspian laughed loudly.
"Because if I did that then I wouldn't have gotten to see those looks of confusion on your faces" he stated, before quickly changing from a laugh to a dark chuckle. "However next time, I won't hold back. I still do hate you after all" he added in a much more spiteful tone of voice. Sting shook his head, before Natsu spoke up.
"There won't be a next time, buddy!" the pinkette shouted. Sting looked to his partner with a smile, before shrugging.
"You heard him" he stated, not needing to add anything more to that statement, looking back to Caspian. The swordsman chuckled, before raising his hand up.
"Come and get me then" he said in challenge. Sting and Natsu took him up on his offer, and with smirks on their faces, the two Dragon Slayers rushed forward, light and flame infusing their fists as they ran.
Sting was the first to attempt a punch, however to his dismay, it simply passed through the illusory Caspian's grinning façade. "Too slow" Caspian mused, as he appeared to Sting's right.
"Really?" Natsu growled, as he darted around Sting, and attempted his own punch. This also failed spectacularly, as the pinkette simply passed through the second illusion.
"Yes, really. You can't touch me" Caspian laughed, as he appeared slightly left of where he placed his second illusionary self. Natsu glared up at the red-head, a low growling noise emitting from his throat.
Sting watched Caspian for a moment, as the pinkette lunged for him once more, failing to land a blow. Again. "Hmm…" an idea struck the blond, who continued to stand watching for a moment.
"Get back here!" Natsu called out, as he attempted another flurry of kicks and blows that all landed on nothing more than thin air.
Just as Caspian appeared for yet another time, however, Sting smirked. "White Dragon Roar" the blond barked, emitting forth a laser of pure white light, that surged over to the red-head's latest position. Natsu watched with pride as Sting's attack hit its mark, or nearly, as Caspian dodged to the right, his non-scimitar-wielding, left arm getting hit in the process.
"Argh… you… you managed to hit me?!" Caspian snarled in disbelief. Natsu came to stand over by the blond once more, as Sting smiled confidently.
"Yeah… I noticed that there was a couple of seconds between you creating those illusions. If Natsu tried to hit you before the time, you dodged the attack, whilst other times you used the illusions" Sting stated, explaining his hastily made observation.
Caspian eyed the blond angrily, cradling his injured arm carefully. "You're… annoyingly… the first person to notice that. Normally, people get so caught up in the fight that they don't even notice the time limit, as small as it is" the red-head commented, somewhat praising the White Dragon Slayers observational skills.
Sting shrugged. "Since Natsu was keeping you busy, I had the time to watch. It's all thanks to him distracting you that I figured it out" Sting remarked, deflecting the praise onto his boyfriend rather than himself. Natsu's eyes positively glowed at the statement of gratitude.
Just as he was about to praise the blond in turn, however, Caspian spoke up. "Tch… before you two get all sickening again, I think I'm just gonna do this" the red-head rose his blade up so that it was pointing towards the sky, and in a bright flash of pinkish-red light a dozen or more copies of him were left standing before the Dragon Slayer duo.
"So instead of running, you're hiding now? How lame are you?" Sting chuckled, as his eyes scanned over the numerous versions of Caspian that stood before him. I can't tell which one's real, they're identical. And they all smell like him too…
Caspian laughed cockily from in amongst the crowd of illusions. "You can try and find me, the real me; however, I doubt you ever will" the red-head called out. Sting groaned, before looking to Natsu.
"I know that Thomas said for us to conserve magic power but, do you think-" Sting cut himself off quickly as he saw Natsu beaming at him.
"Overkill?" the pinkette asked, voice as eager as his expression. Sting nodded.
"Yeah, you ready?" he replied. Natsu nodded.
"Yeah… Fire Dragon…" he began concentrating his power instantly. Sting smirked at his partners preparedness, before he began focusing his energy himself.
"White Dragon…" the pair each faced the crowd of Caspian-decoys, before grinning widely.
"ROAR!" they shouted in unison. Calling upon at least twice as much magic power as last time, the two Dragon Slayers unleashed a mighty wave of light and flame, that bathed the whole area in magic.
Caspian, who under an illusion of invisibility, was busy crawling away, barely had time to look back before the attack hit him at full force, burning away his cloak, and much of his clothing for good measure.
"AHHH!" he screamed in pain, rolling around as he tried to douse the flames on his person, the temporary blindness inflicted by the brightness of the spell only the second most pressing of his concerns at that moment.
As the spell subsided, Natsu and Sting stood shoulder-to-shoulder, with their fingers entwined. Neither of them knew when exactly they had began holding hands, whether it was before the spells activation, or sometime during, however they squeezed the other's grip tightly. Then they laughed.
"Maybe we" Sting started.
"Overdid it?" Natsu finished. Sting shook his head.
"No, maybe we should go see if he's alive, then we can tie him up" Sting corrected. Natsu nodded.
"Alright" he agreed, before pushing forward over the scorched earth in front of them to where the 'Master Illusionist' stood whimpering. "You ready to give up and let us tie you up?" Natsu asked the red-head.
Caspian didn't respond verbally, he just gave a weak nod; after that attack, he figured doing anything more would likely lose him not just his life, but maybe the rest of his dignity whilst he was at it. After all, it wasn't like he really believed in the cause he was fighting for, unlike Hugo he wasn't a fanatic.
With Caspian's defeat, only one opponent remained standing from the Troupe's forces; from that moment, everything was left up to Hugo.
End of Chapter 30
Chapter Hint; Boss Battles