Gray woke up slowly, realizing the pain his entire body was in. He shifted, trying to sit up and get his bearings. Oxygen. Fresh oxygen. His lungs burned as he breathed it in.

"Juves!" he exclaimed as his wits returned to him, "We're not in Hell anymore!"

One by one the others sat up around them. The Celestial King had been gracious enough to re-clothe the ladies on their top areas. Their backs stung from the whipping they'd received.

Erza and Jellal embraced. Levy took a deep breath of fresh clean air. Gajeel stretched his aching muscles. Arcadios stayed on the ground, unmoving. Sobs could be heard from his body.

Cana.

"We failed," Gray said solemnly.

"The King is still down there," Juvia pointed out, "There's still hope."

"Not for Cana," Arcadios said forlornly.

They stood around for a moment, remembering her brave act of jumping on the demon's back…the look on her face when the spike protruded into her stomach.

"Where are we?" Levy asked, looking around.

The others followed suit.

"We're outside Magnolia," Gajeel said, "I can smell the other Dragon Slayers."

A BOOM resounded across the forest.

"Then I guess we'd better see if our friends need help!" Jellal said, batting Erza's hand away as she attempted to look at his wound.


Lucy, Hisui, Kinana, and Evergeen faced the new threat. He was a large and muscular demon. He towered over the women. Lucy's Zodiac spirits filed around her, having successfully evacuated Magnolia to the forest.

"Stupid humans," Omicron muttered, "You're all pissing me off."

Lucy keeled over, breathing through another vicious pain.

"Lucy, you need to go join the villagers!" Kinana ordered, "You're in no condition to fight."

"That's the third one this hour," Evergreen said, "I'm worried you're going into premature labour."

"I sure as hell hope not!" Lucy yelled, "Because it's going to need to wait! First, we're gonna kick this guy's ass!"

She released a Regulus attack, landing it directly on Omicron's torso.

He laughed. He outright laughed.

The mages froze momentarily before jumping to action again. They worked together.

Hisui cracked her lasso, securely grabbing Omicron's wrist. Lucy released rapid Regulus attacks. Kinana shot purple lightning from her hands. Evergreen used her Fairy bomb. All of the Zodiacs joined in, releasing everything they had.

Omicron roared, taking the barrage of attacks.

"He's weakening!" Loke yelled, "Keep it up!"

Hisui and Lucy exchanged glances, joining hands without a word. The other mages, seeing their intent, backed away from Omicron, continuing to fire attacks.

Omicron hissed at them, "You can't beat me! Your own Master couldn't beat me!"

"What do you mean by that?" Evergreen yelled back.

"I killed him! Your Master is dead! If I could take him out without blinking an eye, you're dead…all of you."

The mages were quiet for a moment, tears gathering in their eyes.

"YOU LIE!" Kinana screamed, rushing at him.

This time Omicron was ready. He fired an attack at her close-range, sending her flying backwards. Aries caught her, gently placing her on the ground.

Evergreen used Fairy Bomb again, barraging Omicron with attacks.

"You're pathetic," Omicron stated. The orb above his head got larger, "Let's see how you like this."

The orb fired, hitting Evergreen. She disappeared.

"Where did she go?" Kinana demanded.

"She's part of my orb now," Omicron laughed, "Think she's lonely? Perhaps you'd like to join her."

He fired again, making the mages dodge. He hit Kinana, her body disappearing.

"We have to destroy the orb!" Sagittarius yelled. Another strike from Omicron was sent out. Sagittarius disappeared.

He was laughing maniacally as he shot mage after mage. They disappeared.

"Hisui!" Lucy hollered, throwing a Regulus attack, "We need to end this!"

"Agreed!" Hisui yelled back, "Think we can do it?"

Lucy nodded, "Let's do it."

"MAGIC POWER UNISON RAID!" they both cried out.

Hisui cracked her whip again, sending out a lightning bolt. Lucy added her Regulus power to it. Omicron's face lit up in fear as it traveled to his body, instantly electrocuting him.

He fell over, crumpling to the ground.

Both girls were breathing heavily. The mages and Zodiacs all stared at the body. Scorpio walked over to the orb, now the size of a child's ball, and crushed it with his foot. Everyone who had disappeared were instantly on the ground, breathing heavily.

"He's dead," Loke confirmed.

Lucy keeled over, grabbing her stomach.

"It hurts!" she cried, "Please Baby Dragneel…not yet. You're not ready!"

"Lucy, you must sit out!" Hisui insisted.

"I'll take her to the forest," Kinana offered.

"No! I need to find Natsu!" Lucy pleaded.

Loke embraced Lucy, "Go," he said, "We'll find Natsu."

Another pain shot through her body, "Okay," she whispered, tears gathering, "Loke…is it true? What he said about Master?"

Loke nodded once. Instantly, Lucy, Evergreen and Kinana burst into tears.

Kinana supported Lucy as they started to walk away from the battle ground, the others flanking her.

"Well, what do you know," a new voice cackled, eyeing the Celestial mage. He glanced to the Princess, "This is my lucky day. A Princess and an heir."

They turned to the new voice. He was ugly. He was large.

"Uncle," Hisui whispered under her breath, "Kinana, you take Lucy and you run! Don't look back."

"What's that I smell?" Andromeda sniffed the air, "If I didn't know better, I'd say that's END's baby. I only smelled him once, but yes…I'm sure that's the smell."

"END is gone," Lucy hissed.

"That's true," the demon circled the girls. Loke and the other Zodiacs surrounded Lucy, "But he hasn't told you, has he?"

"Told me what?" Lucy asked, venom in her voice.

"A part of END will always reside in Natsu Dragneel," Andromeda said in a low voice, "It boils in his blood even now. I can smell it from here."

"It's not true!" Lucy yelled, "You're a liar!"

"That's true too," Andromeda admitted, "Well, most of the time. I'm not lying about this. That baby," he pointed to her stomach, "Is a mixture of demon, Dragon Slayer, Celestial mage, and Celestial spirit."

"No!" Lucy screamed.

"YES!" he roared emphatically, "So THAT BABY is perfect to be my heir!"

He jumped towards her, knocking Zodiac spirits out of the way as they tried to block.

"RUN LUCY!" Hisui screamed.

Lucy spun on her heel, breaking out into a run.

Andromeda was fast, yanking Lucy up by her wrist. As she dangled, she caught sight of Cana's body, still held to his neck by the spike.

She was about to scream when Cana opened one eye, pressing her finger to her lips in a SHH motion.

Lucy's eyes were wild as she looked for an outlet to escape.


Natsu leapt over boulders and rubble. He was almost to the tunnels.

"DRAGON SLAYER! Or should I say, END."

He turned slowly, looking over the new potential opponent.

"I'm Nembus," the fat demon announced. His cronies followed him, still high from the blood bath they'd just had as they came into Magnolia.

"I don't have time to deal with you," Natsu said, turning to run again, "Can we fight later?"

Nembus shot an energy ball in front of him, "NOPE! You're not going anywhere."

Natsu sighed, turning to the dark demon. END's energy was flowing through his blood. He couldn't stop it anymore. He felt the strength surge. His eyes started to glow red.

"Ah! So it's true. A part of END still resides in you. How delightful!" Nembus cackled.

"I said I don't have time to deal with you!" Natsu hissed, "So fuck off!"

Nembus laughed, his demons spanning out to surround Natsu, "I don't think so. You see, I think you know where the Princess is."

"So what if I do?"

"Will you help me?" Nembus asked sweetly. The circle closed in on Natsu, "Does the demon part of you still wish for power? You can have it, you know. If we find the Princess and kill her, you can be the new ruler of Hell. Andromeda will kill the Celestial King. We'll kill Andromeda together. Instant power. It was always your destiny."

Natsu cringed, "I have no interest in ruling Hell. Now get out of my way."

"Hmm," Nembus shook his finger, "Don't be hasty, END."

Natsu called upon END's energy, emitting a powerful pulse, knocking the surrounding demons off their feet. With the exception of Nembus, "I told you! I'm not interested. NOW GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

He dragon roared at Nembus, striking him in the leg. Nembus stumbled but did not fall.

"Insolent fool!" he yelled, "Fine! Have it your way!"

He started to power up. Suddenly, Natsu felt a shift in the air around him. He looked around, suddenly joined by Gray, Gajeel, Levy, Juvia, Arcadios, and Jellal.

"Hey Fire Dick!" Gray greeted, exchanging a fist bump with Natsu.

"You smell like Hell, Ice Breath! Actually, you totally look like hell too. Where have you been?"

"NOT FUNNY, Natsu!" Jellal yelled, joining his other side, also exchanging a quick fist bump.

"Hey guys, I gotta go find Lucy. Can you handle this asshole for me?" Natsu asked.

"Hell ya," Gajeel grinned, taking his turn with Natsu, "Leave it to us – go get Bunny Girl."

Natsu didn't waste any time, taking off down the path.

"I'm going too!" Gray announced, darting after him. Juvia followed Gray while Levy got ready to fight with Gajeel, Erza, Arcadios and Jellal.

They turned back to Nembus, grinning as the Dragon Slayers joined them, exchanging short 'welcome back – you stink' small talk. Then the Thunder Legion caught up to them. Then Bisca and Alzack. Then Mirajane and Elfman. Finally, the Christina hovered overhead and Nembus realized he had the fight of his life on his hands.

Nembus gulped audibly, then composed himself. Now he and his demons were surrounded.

"Okay then, assholes…bring it on."