Viper Bite
The growing dark guild stood at attention, gathered in the lobby of the Viper Bite guild in front of Master Jiemma. The demon had called for a meeting a few days after Sabertooth and Fairy Tail had fought Rufus and Freed. He was not pleased with the two Second-in-Command's failed attempt at destroying their guilds right then and there.
"I want everyone to hear me loud and clear, and I mean loud and clear. When you are given a task, you are to complete it. Failure is not an option!" Jiemma reminded them. "Do not finish half of the job or even three-fourths of it! It needs to be one hundred percent completed!"
The members stood in silence, awaiting him to finish what he has to say. "Rufus. Freed." The two stepped forward. "You two failed at completing your task of destroying our hated enemies: Sabertooth and Fairy Tail. I may have decided to give you both another chance after the both of you gave your explanation. I understand your point. But listen very carefully and I mean carefully! You fail me again, and I will not show you mercy."
"Yes Master Jiemma. We understand." The two answered as they bowed.
"You hear that! That goes out for everyone! You fail and I will not show you any mercy!"
"Yes sir!"
"Now, the two members who will be taking part in tomorrow's death match, step forward." The master ordered. Rufus and Freed stepped back as two men stepped forward. "You two not only showed weakness, but also failed your monthly examination. If you really want to show that you are worthy of bearing the symbol of Viper Bite then pass this task I prepared for you."
"Of course, Master Jiemma."
"What is the task that you have prepared for us?"
"Tomorrow night, you will fight until death. Only one of you will survive thus showing who is the strongest out of you two weaklings! All of Viper Bite will be present at the death match to watch what happens when you fail your examination." Jiemma explained as the two mages gave a nod and bowed.
"Yes Master Jiemma. We understand."
"You better have! Now everyone get out of my site! Expect for Rufus, Freed, Thorn and Nightshade. You four stay here. I have to have a discussion with the four of you." Jiemma ordered. All of the guild members exited the lobby, leaving the five all alone in the room. Still standing at attention, the four dark mages awaited to hear what the demon had to say.
"You are probably wondering why I wanted you four to stay back." Jiemma started as the four gave a nod. "Rufus and Freed, the two of you have special training for the both of you. Thorn and Nightshade, the both of you will assist with that training."
"Of course Master Jiemma." Nightshade replied as the two generals bowed. "We will assist with whatever you need us to do."
"You two will fight them as I prepare their true training." The master explained as both Freed and Rufus turned their heads towards the generals and smirked.
"I am looking forward to this." Freed commented as Rufus nodded in agreement.
"Indeed. Revenge for nearly killing us." Rufus agreed as the two generals glared over to the second-in-commands.
"We'll see about that!" Thorn responded as he stepped forward, but was stopped by Nightshade.
"Not here, Thorn. Not now."
"Tck!"
"That's enough, Thorn." Jiemma said as he stood up. "Head to the training arena for the training now. All four of you. I will be in the overhead booth watching while preparing the training."
Giving a nod, the four bowed and departed from the lobby, heading toward the training arena. Walking behind the two generals, Rufus and Freed carefully watched them, especially Thorn. The reckless of the two generals who nearly murdered Rufus during his kidnapping.
"Oi, I know the both of you have your eyes on me so will you stop? I'm not going to do anything!" Thorn snapped after the feeling of their eyes started to bother him.
"It would be rather safer hence sorry keeping an eye on you. Especially with you being the reckless one." Freed replied as the general looked over his shoulder towards the two.
"As much as I'd like to attack the both of you and finish what I started, I won't. Nightshade would stop me in a heartbeat and Master Jiemma would kill me. So stop glaring at me."
"Thorn, just keep walking. We're almost there." Nightshade announced. The irritated general looked from the calm general to the two dark mages. Narrowing his eyes, he turned back to the front and kept walking. Freed and Rufus turned towards each other and gave a nod. Arriving at the doors of the training arena, the four mages entered. Already seeing Jiemma awaiting them in the top booth. His arms crossed as the four entered and walked towards the middle of the field.
"Thorn, Nightshade. Do not hold back on them." Jiemma demanded as he turned away from them. "Begin!"
Within a flash, the two generals were already charging towards Freed and Rufus. Nightshade snapped his fingers and two balls of black flames appeared.
"Dark Ball Fire!"
"Summon! Staff!" Thorn called out as he stopped. Freed and Rufus jumped out of the way of Nightshade's fireballs as Thorn's staff appeared. Pointing it at the both of them, he smirked.
"Thorn, remember, don't kill them." Nightshade reminded him, already knowing what the general was going to do. With a chuckle and a wink, Thorn turned towards the two mages.
"I'll try. But they might lose an arm or two. Dark Staff!" The staff started to glow and so did the general's smirk. "GATHER!" From the ground, energy orbs appeared and vanished as soon as they came into contact with the glowing staff. It soon changed colors to a black and the brightness started to glow.
"FEEL THE BURN OF THE ACID BITE!" Throwing the acid toward both Freed and Rufus, Nightshade rolled his eyes. He knew what was going to happen.
"Memory Make! Protection! Dark Shield!" Rufus called out as the shield appeared in front of the two from the acid. Nightshade sighed and shook his head.
"You idiot. We have to use spells they already know so they don't use it against us!" He scolded the general who glared at him.
"How was I supposed to-"
"Absorbed Power Released! Acid Bite!" Snapping their heads up, the two generals barley had enough time to dodge the attack. When the acid hit the ground, it melted the floor. Thorn blinked at the newly melted hole.
"Whoa, I wasn't expecting that to happen."
"You are truly an idiot, Thorn." Nightshade answered as he face palmed. But it didn't last long as Freed and Rufus jumped over to attack the two generals. Freed drew his sword out as he charged towards Nightshade.
"Dark Écriture: Pain!" Freed called out as the runes appeared and headed straight for Nightshade. Though he jumped out of the way, the runes still appeared on him.
"Shit!" He cussed as the pain started. His eyes widened and he screamed at the top of his lungs. The pain was unbearable, the worst he'd ever felt. His body screamed as if he was the most sensitive person. One touch and it caused agonizing pain to the general. And it only grew worse by the second as Freed wrote more and more runes.
"Nightshade!" Thorn yelled as he took some step towards the fallen general.
"General Thorn, I believe we have some unfinished business!" Rufus called out as Thorn looked over to the blond.
"I should have killed you when I had the chance!"
"And fail your mission? Yes, I would have liked you to try that. I'm sure Master Jiemma would have been pleased to hear that you failed your mission. And if my memory serves me righ; it was you who came up with this plan. So you would have failed your own plan." Rufus smirked as Thorn snarled at the blond.
"Can you shut the hell up, you bastard?! We're here to fight, not to talk." Thorn answered as his hands started to glow. Rufus smirked.
"I do agree; shall we start our fight? Memory Make! Rage of the Burning Earth!" The flames surrounding Thorn exploded, but he jumped out of the way in time. However, instead of going up, he went back down. Falling to the ground, the general saw Rufus landing in front of him.
"If memory serves me correctly, you said I needed some work? Well do I still need some-" Thorn cut the memory mage off as the general threw a knife towards the man. Smirking, the weapon went through Rufus. "What you attacked was merely a memory of me."
Snapping his head up, Thorn saw Rufus right above him. Growling, the general jumped up, but looked behind him to check on Nightshade. The general was in a fetal position. He noticed the trembles from the pain and how Freed stood above him, watching as the general shook with a smirk on his face. Proud of his work. Returning his attention back to Rufus, Thorn's hands burst into flames. Charging towards the memory mage.
"YOU BASTARDS WILL-"
"THAT IS ENOUGH!" A voice rang through the area. Stopping, everyone turned in the direction of the voice and saw Master Jiemma.
"Thorn. Nightshade. How pitiful that was. Being easily defeated like that. I told you to show no mercy!"
"Clearly they show that they aren't as strong as we are." Freed commented as he put his sword back in its sheath.
"Unmistakably, this just shows how strong we've grown from our training." Rufus agreed. Thorn glared at the mage.
"Yes. It does show this. But my two generals should have put up a fight and not be easily defeated!" Jiemma hissed as Thorn bowed.
"Forgive us Master, we went too easy on them. We will not fail you next time." Thorn answered as the master growled.
"You have more important things to do other than that, Thorn. Get out of my sight, I have training to do with my strongest members." Jiemma ordered as Thorn gave a nod.
"Yes Master Jiemma." Walking over to Nightshade, Thorn helped him up and walked towards the exit. Looking back, the general narrowed his eyes at the two mages. Growling lowly, he walked away from the arena, Nightshade by his side. The general was still trembling and his face had an expression Thorn had never seen before. A face of pure terror, as if he saw a sinful act of crime being committed. The phase, "He must have seen a ghost." Was an understatement, it's like he had seen pure evil. Thorn didn't know what to think or say but one thing was on his mind.
'Those fucking bastards will pay. And I do plan on finishing what I started, Rufus. You'll be the first to go. I'll make sure of it. I don't care if Master Jiemma kills me for killing his two "strongest mages". Nightshade and I are the strongest mages. Not them!' He thought as they walked away from the arena.
Back in the Arena
"The both of you will go under special training to test what you have learned thus far as a Viper Bite members. This is not like the exam I have the other members undergo, the one to determine if you are worth anything to this guild. No, this will not only test your skills, but also teach you a lesson! To NEVER fail me again, to never fail your mission ever again! If I say you destroy something, you better make sure there's nothing left of it!" Jiemma explained as the two mages gave a nod.
"Yes Master Jiemma!" they replied as the demon gave a nod.
"That's what I wanted to hear. The both of you will go up against two opponents." Jiemma started as he snapped his fingers. Red smoke started to suddenly appear out of nowhere. Narrowing their eyes, the two mages watched as the smoke started to take shape into two different figures. Hands on their sword handles, they watched as the smoke started to vanish and two demons like creatures appeared. They were dark as the night, eyes red as blood and empty of any sort of soul inside them. They were twice the two mages' size as they stood up straight. Freed and Rufus stepped back a little, getting ready to attack the demons.
"They will be your opponents. I chose demons because of the power they hold, much more stronger. Much more power than the two of you combined. Defeat them and I will forget that you failed your mission." Jiemma started as the demons got ready to attack and so did the two mages. "Oh and two more things."
Snapping his fingers, the area around them started to fog up and everything around them started to vanish, including the two demons.
"You two will fight with limited sight and to make this even tougher, I have limited what spells you can use. You can only use the spells you have learned while being here. Everything else, you cannot use. Remember, defeat them and I will forget that you failed your mission. But you if you don't, then you will be killed in the process of the fight, showing me that you were worthless this whole time. Now…BEGIN!" Jiemma ordered as the glowing red eyes of the demons vanished in the fog.
Looking around, both mages carefully listened and circled where they were. Rufus couldn't use his magic to locate them because Jiemma had banned it. So they were on their own.
"This is going to be tricky. Not only is our magic limited but we can't see where the demons are." Freed commented as him and Rufus were back to back. The blond gave a nod, agreeing.
"Agreed. We are going to need to be as careful as we can. These demons are going to be twice as strong as we are and will be impossible to keep up with. We need to listen to every single move that is made." Rufus added as Freed nodded. The two closed their eyes and carefully listened to the sounds around them. Above them, Jiemma smirked.
'Oh? Relying on your senses huh? Well we can't allow that. Where's all the…so called "fun" in that?' The demon thought as he watched Rufus and Freed stand still while listening. Jiemma could see where his demons were. They hadn't moved yet. Smirking, he held his hand out as it started to glow. Putting his hand away after the glowing stopped, the master gave a nod and his demons started to move, circling the two mages.
Stopping, the demons pounced on the two mages. They had no time to even jump out of the way. Under the foot of the demons, the two mages tried to lift the limbs off of them. But with the weight of the demons was too much, it was impossible. Freed's left arm was stuck under the foot and he could barley move as he got an idea. Just barley able to move his stuck arm, he snapped his fingers. A burning sensation spread through the demon, causing it to remove its foot from under the mage. Jumping up, Freed drew his sword.
"Rufus! Use Dark Fire! That'll get it to take his foot off you!" Freed shouted as Rufus gave a nod. Freed returned his attention to his demon as he charged at him. Since Rufus wasn't as pinned down as the other was, he put both of his hands on the demon's foot and used the fire. And just like Freed said, the demon took its foot off the mage with a yelp. Jiemma heard Freed's call for Rufus.
"Well they are working together for the plan. But not for this training session." Jiemma commented as he snapped his finger.
While jumping out of the way from an incoming punch, a wall suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Both Freed and Rufus' eyes widen.
"He is making it to where we cannot communicate." Freed said as he looked up to where Jiemma was.
"He is going to make things impossible for us. Of course he would." Rufus commented as the blond shook his head. But now they had to focus on the demons that stood in front of them.
Rufus quickly observed the amount of room that he had, not much thanks to the wall. Narrowing his eyes, the blond jumped up and went to kick the demon. But instead the demon caught his foot and looked at the blond before throwing him across the arena. Just barley able to stop before hitting the wall, Rufus growled at the demon.
"Only limited to using our dark magic is something I'm not pleased about. If only I could use my other spells, but I have no choice but to use my dark magic." Rufus said to himself. The blond noticed the demon was smirking at him. "Memory Make! Acid Bite!"
Acid flew across the room and towards the demon. When it hit him, it didn't seem to cause much pain seeing it only made it flinch. The demon charged towards Rufus at full speed and threw a fist at the mage who jumped out of the way. Landing, the blond drew his sword and dashed toward the demon who also summoned its own sword. Their swords clanged against each other, both putting all their weight into pushing the other away. However, due to being twice Rufus' side, the demon pushed and sliced Rufus over the chest. Gasping, the blond put a hand against his now open clothing; he brought it up to and saw blood. Thankfully, it wasn't a lot but it stung. Taking a deep breath, Rufus held his sword closer and charged toward the demon.
"Darkness Sword! Flash Flames!" Rufus called out as his sword started to glow brightly with flames surrounding the blade. He then threw his sword at the demon, hoping to hit its chest. The demon was hit, but not in the chest, the shoulder. But this time, the demon did cry out in pain. Rufus smirked as he watched the demon pull out the sword and seeing the burn mark. The demon snapped its head towards the mage and snarled at him. The mage chuckled as the demon's eyes started to glow red when it charged towards Rufus.
"Memory Make! Protection! Dark Shield!" Rufus called out but the shield didn't activate instead he suddenly let out an agonizing scream. Jiemma heard Rufus' screams and looked away from Freed's battle to the memory mage's. Rufus was on his knees, holding his head as he screamed.
"Oh yes. I knew I was forgetting something." Jiemma chuckled. "I did forget to tell them if they attempt to use any spells they hadn't learned while here, they get electrocuted as punishment."
The demon chuckled as he watched Rufus scream is pain. A smirk crossed its face as the electrocution stopped. The blond's arms fell to his side as he looked up toward the ceiling. Panting from that torture that felt like it went on forever when it just went on for a minute. Rufus looked at the demon, its smirk had grown. Growling, Rufus tried to get up, but he couldn't, as he was still weakened from the sudden electrocution. The demon walked over and karate chopped Rufus hard in his shoulder. The blond hissed, feeling something crack or even break.
'Feel the pain human!' The demon projected into Rufus' mind as the creature grabbed him by his already injured shoulder and threw him against the wall. Groaning as he fell, Rufus felt his whole body scream as the demon walked up to him. Bending down, the demon grabbed Rufus by his hair and pulled him up toward the demon's face.
'Yes human, I can talk. You listen to me and listen to me carefully human. I will destroy you. You and that other human won't beat us!'
"We'll- we will if it's the last thing we do!" Rufus replied back as he tried to head butt the demon, but failed. Instead, the demon smashed the man into the ground hard.
BAM
Freed was thrown against the wall for what seemed like the tenth time. His demon was doing a number to him like Rufus's was, but Freed hadn't been able to even touch his. Groaning as he fell to the floor, the mage looked up as the demon walked over to him. A smirk on its face; pleased that Freed hadn't been able to even touch him and that he was suffering. Using his sword to help him stand up, Freed narrowed his eyes at the demon.
"I will not…allow you to win. I will destroy you with my own hands." Freed said to the demon who chuckled and shook its head.
'I'd like to see you try, human.' The demon projected to Freed. 'You haven't even been able to lay one finger on me since we started this fight.'
"Yes I am aware of that. But that'll change! Darkness Sword! Flash Flames!" The sword burst into dark flames and Freed charged toward the demon. The demon ducted when the mage swung his sword at him. The mage kept swing at the demon till eventually, he finally struck him. The demon cried out in pain when he was stabbed in his thigh. Smirking, Freed watched as the demon struggled to pull the sword out as the flames burned its skin. Sneering, the demon pulled the sword out with a painful cry.
"Well it might have taken some time, but I managed to touch you, now did I?" Freed smirked as the demon looked at him. If looks could kill, the mage would have dropped dead to the floor.
'I WILL END YOU HUMAN!' The demon projected as it charged toward him. The greenette jumped out of the way and went to kick the demon in the back. Stumbling, the demon turned back around and rushed toward Freed.
Using his sword against him, the demon swung at the mage. The flames were still going and they only grew as the demon casted its own spell on it. Freed's eyes widen as he watched the dark flames turned black. The demon smirked as he watched the mage's surprise reaction.
'Ah yes, you did not think us demons can cast spells now did you?' The demon chuckled as Freed shook his head. 'Fool. We were created by magic, of course we can use magic!'
"It never crossed my-" The demon cut Freed off as he swung his sword at him. Jumping back, the mage summoned dark fireballs and threw them toward the demon. The demon hit the balls as if they were baseballs and hit them back toward Freed who ducted from them all. "This isn't a game of baseball, demon."
'Oh I know. I was just aiming for your head.'
"Even then, the point is to get the ball out of the park!" Freed explained as he dashed toward the demon. The demon smirked and waited till Freed was close enough to strike him. Gasping from the slicing of his skin and the burning from the flames he felt, he hissed. He held his side as he fell to one knee and removed his hand from his right side. His blood covered his hand, just enough to cover it. He also felt the warm liquid run down from his injured side. Looking forward the demon, Freed began to write in the air.
"Dark Écriture: Reflect!" Without even thinking, Freed forget that his Dark Écriture magic was banned from this training. But he was given a reminder just like Rufus. He screamed at the top of his lungs when a blast of electrocution suddenly hit him. Letting out a scream, the demon stopped and watched as the mage screamed. Chuckling, he looked up to where Master Jiemma stood.
"Well seems they forgot what I said about limiting their magic. Those fools." Jiemma commented as he watched Freed fall onto his back and curl into a fetal position as his torture went on longer for more than a minute. The demon looked up to Jiemma when he realized it was longer than a minute.
'So are you just going to kill him right here?'
'Oh no, each time they use a banned spell, the time will keep going up. Rufus was the first so his was a full minute. Now Freed used a banned spell so it goes up to two minutes.' Jiemma explained to the demon.
'Well you aren't Master for a reason. Have to keep your troops in order.' The demon smirked as the scream died down. The demon looked back down and saw Freed was slowly getting up.
"T-That won't stop me from…from finishing you off!" Freed declared as the demon shook his head. Walking over to the struggling mage, the demon punched him right in his jaw before catching him by his hand. Picking Freed up, the demon then threw him as hard as it could into the wall.
'You humans think you're so powerful when you aren't in reality!' The demon projected as he picked Freed up and smashed him into the wall again. 'You are weak!'
Again, the demon smashed Freed into the wall. Feeling like he was going to pass out, he had to stay awake or Jiemma would kill him right then and there. 'You want to sleep don't you! BUT I WON'T ALLOW YOU! YOU HAVE AN ENTERNAL SLUMPER!'
Jiemma watched as both demons smashed both mages into the wall. He knew this wall was a good idea, but now he was growing bored of it. The demons were now just using it to bash the two mages' skulls instead of actually fighting them. Snapping his fingers, the wall came done JUST as the demons were about to smash the mages's heads against it. But instead, the demons hit Rufus and Freed's heads against one another. Shocked by the sudden disappearance of the wall, the demons looked up to Jiemma as they dropped the two mages.
'Master! Why did you take away the wall?!' They asked.
'I grew tired of the two of you using it to smash their skulls. It was only to separate the four of you!' Jiemma explained.
'But we were about to finish them off!'
'Yes you were, but using the separation wall is not what I wanted you two to do!' Jiemma barked back. Unknown to the two demons, Freed and Rufus; who were both weakened from their fights, were slowly sitting up. They noticed the demons had their backs to the two mages and seemed to be talking or fighting with Jiemma. Turning their heads toward one another, the two gave a nod to one another.
'We should come up there and teach you a les-' Both demons were cut off when they were suddenly hit was a strong blast of dark magic that went through their bodies. The demons fell forward and Jiemma looked to see both Rufus and Freed's fists were pointing in the direction of the demons. Panting, the two mages slowly started to get up, but stumbled. Jiemma chuckled and watched as the two demons began to vanish.
"Well then. You both defeated the demons like I said and thus, you both have passed your training." Jiemma applauded them as they finally stood up, leaning against one another. "These better have taught you both a lesson! NEVER fail another mission again. DO YOU UNDERSTAND!"
"Y-Yes…Master J-Jiemma." The tired mages answered.
"You had better have." Jiemma replied as he turned around to leave. "You are dismissed for the evening. You had better rest up for tomorrow's death match. I want you both there."
"Of course…Master." Rufus answered as the demon master left the area, leaving the two mages behind. The mages watched as Jiemma exited the arena before exiting themselves.
For the rest of the evening, the two mages spent their time bandaging each other up. Even though the two had learned healing spells, the spells weren't enough for their head injuries. They had massive headaches, very painful and sensitive to the touch and light. It was tough for the two to even sleep that night because of the pain. Their whole bodies ached and screamed when they made even one small move. But they knew they had to get some rest or tomorrow would be pure hell staying awake tomorrow.
The Next Evening
Walking up to the booth above the arena, Freed and Rufus looked down toward the field. Blanket expressions on their faces as they watched the two members walk onto the turf. Thorn also appeared on the field, probably to explain the rules. Master Jiemma had yet to arrive, but he would be arriving at any moment. The match was not allowed to start without him since he wanted to see who would be victorious.
"Well looks like you two had quit the beating." A voice came. The two mages barley looked over their shoulders to see Nightshade enter the booth.
"Coming from the one who curled up on the floor after our match." Freed reminded the general as he walked up. Nightshade shot a glare over to the mage who just gave a smirk.
"At least I don't have bruises on my face." Nightshade smirked as he closed his eyes. Freed shot a glare back. The general wasn't lying though, both Freed and Rufus had bruises on their faces form being pounded into the wall multiple times. Rufus's mask was even torn from the impact his demon did to him.
"I will add though, we at least were able to touch our opponents unlike yourself who was knocked down with one hit." Rufus added with a smirk.
"Uh huh, yes that might be true, but I didn't become a demon's punching bag."
"Enough you three." Jiemma's voice came. The three turned around and bow as the demon walked in.
"Of course Master Jiemma. It will stop at once." Nightshade answered as the demon walked up. The three stood up and turned back around toward the field. Thorn seemed to be still explaining the rules or telling the two mages pure bullcrap. It was never clear with him.
"Will they be limited, Master?" Freed asked.
"Yes they will." Jiemma answered as the group saw Thorn give a nod and teleport out of the arena. He appeared in the booth behind the four.
"They've been given all the information they'll need. This is a death match and they are to kill either one. Master will determine when the fight will begin and what they can and cannot use. They both understand and are awaiting for you." Thorn explained as the demon gave a nod.
"Nice bruises, Second-in-Commands."
"Oh shut the fuck up you bastard." The two hissed as Thorn chuckled and walked over to stand by Nightshade. Jiemma clapped his hands and everyone stood at attention.
"Now listen up! This here is a death match between two weaklings who didn't pass their examination. And because of that, everyone gets to watch one of them suffer the ultimate punishment! Death! I will not allow any weaklings into this guild and if anyone is going to fail, you don't deserve to bear the Viper Bite symbol!" Jiemma started as everyone gave a nod. "Now…onto the death match. The both of you will be limited to what you can use. And you can only use weapons."
Everyone's eyes widen. No magic allowed at all? A weapons wrack suddenly appeared in front of the two mages. "No magic is allowed. Since you cannot past your exam with your magic, you aren't allowed to use it in your death match! Now…pick your weapon of choice!"
Looking at each other, the two mages showed some sigh of nervousness. Both taking a deep breath, they reached for a weapon. One grabbing a sword while the other one grabbed a pair of sais. The wrack disappeared, showing Jiemma the two have choice their weapons.
"BEGIN THE DEATH MTACH!" The demon shouted as the crowd cheered and the two mages started to circle each other.
"So one picked a sword and the other picked forks? Oh my I think this fight is over and done for." Rufus whispered to Freed who smirked.
"Forks? I'd say more like toothpicks to me." Freed commented back as Rufus gave a chuckle. The two mages lunged forward to each other. The mage with the sais kept attacking and the other mage kept blocking with his sword. Ducking and blocking was all he did.
"No wonder he failed his exam. All he's doing is defending. To think he picked a sword, should had given that to the guy with the forks." Freed remarked as Rufus gave a nod. But it all turned around when sword guy attacked back and sent a kick in sai guy's chest.
"Looks like he finally had the balls to attack. I'm surprised it took him this long." Rufus mentioned.
"Agreed. But who knows how long that'll last." Freed responded.
"I can sense this fight won't last very long." Nightshade answered as he watched the sword guy jumped back and went head on back into the fight at full speed. Swing his sword at the sai guy who ducked at each swing. The sai guy barley moved his head in time from being stabbed in the throat by the incoming blade.
Both mages swung at the same time, their weapons stopping each other. The sword's blade was trapped by the sais as each mage tried to push forward toward the other. This went on for a few minutes.
"If this keeps up any longer, we'll be here all night. It's as if they're trying to prevent the other's death for a period of time." Rufus commented as he crossed his arms.
"Seems like the weaklings aren't ready to face their punishment."
"Will you two cut it with your comments?" Thorn snapped.
"No."
SNAP!
The three mages turned their heads just in time to see the blade of the sword being snapped. Stepping back the mage's eyes widen as he was kicked in the head. Falling to the ground, the mage didn't have time to move when the other mage lunged at him.
The sound of the sai stabbing the mage in the throat could be heard throughout the arena. Some looked away while others watched as the sai was dragged out of the other's throat. Blood covered the weapon and it began to flow out of the other's neck.
"Well then, I wasn't expecting fork guy to win." Freed commented as Rufus gave a nod.
"Did you think the one with the sword was going to win?" The blond asked as the other gave a nod. "I did too. Well we were proven wrong."
"The match is now over with!" Jiemma announced. It was silent in the whole arena. "It has been shown who is the weakling of the two."
No one said another word. "Burn him to ashes and toss them out. We don't need anything left of him in this guild. Nightshade."
"Yes, Master Jiemma?"
"Burn him to ashes."
"Of course." Nightshade replied with a bow. The general teleported down to the floor and walked over to the deceased guild member. The winner of the match had dropped his weapon and fell backwards. Taking deep breaths, he watched as Nightshade set the man on fire, the mage just killed. He had just taken a man's life. Shaking his head, he couldn't believe it as he watched the man he just killed start to burn.
"Seems like someone is in distressed now." Freed observed as Rufus gave a nod.
"Guess they hadn't been a member for that long. That would explain why they failed their exam." Rufus commented as Nightshade increased the flames, the heat from the fire could be felt all the way up in the booth.
"That'll burn him up." Thorn commented as the two mages nodded in agreement. The winner started to look as if he was going to have a panic attack. Nightshade didn't seem to care, his eyes were on the burning corpse.
"How old are you kid?" Nightshade asked the mage who looked up. A little confused why the general asked for his age.
"Eighteen."
"Pretty young to murder someone. Congratulations, this is one of many more lives you will be taking away." Nightshade replied as the man's eyes widen. "Hmm…not burning fast enough. Uh this'll take forever."
"It'll take about 3 hours for the body to burn Master Jiemma. So I would suggest-" Freed was cut off by a shrieking scream that filled the arena. Snapping their heads over, the winner was screaming, his hands covering his head while he screamed.
"NIGHTSHADE! SHUT HIM UP!" Jiemma barked. The general didn't even hesitate as he raised his other hand and a blast of magic hit the screaming man. The loud noise died down along with the sound of the magic. Putting his hand down, Nightshade saw what he did. The winner had been hit in the head and he wasn't moving.
"Well then. Guess I overdid it then." Nightshade suggested as he shook his head.
"That's one less weakling I have to deal with." Jiemma hissed, realizing Nightshade just murdered the winner.
"Yes it would appear so Master."
"Master Jiemma!" Nightshade called out as he turned toward the demon master. "Would you like me to also burn his body?"
"…No. Freeze him and then destroy his body." Jiemma answered as Nightshade gave a nod.
"Of course."
"Thorn, go freeze that weakling."
"Yes sir!" Thorn agreed as he bowed to his master. The demon turned to the two remaining mages in the booth.
"Come along with me you two. We have things to do." Jiemma ordered as the two mages nodded.
"Yes Master." The two bowed as they followed the demon out of the booth as the two generals were left to do the dirty work. Thorn watched carefully as the three left the arena. He growled. He was starting to hate Freed and Rufus with a burning passion.
"How are those two different than us? I bet you they could have done this!" Thorn growled as Nightshade rolled his eyes.
"They're part of the plan, remember Thorn? So it's obvious that the master would want them to save all the energy as possible." Nightshade explained.
"They got their asses handed to them yesterday."
"So did ours. Don't forget they weren't the only ones who became someone's punching bag."
"That green haired bastard went overboard when you two were fighting. Oh if only that blond asshole hadn't gotten in the way, I would had fucking murdered him!" Thorn hissed as the other general shook his head.
"You do realize that Master Jiemma would have murdered you if you had killed one of his second-in-commands, correct? That would be taking away a major part of the plan."
"Yeah the plan I came up with! Oh if only I had shut my fucking mouth!"
"Well you didn't and this is the price you have to pay for coming up with the plan. Master Jiemma is going through with it and won't back down. Sabertooth and Fairy Tail have been shown what we are capable of and the master wants them the shake in fear. He wants them to throw away all requests that have to deal with us because he knows we're too strong."
"Yeah well fuck that. We could had fucking taken them oh! Hell I should had murdered Rufus when I had my chance!"
"And you would have been murdered too, you idiot. Now shut up and go back to doing what you were ordered to." Nightshade ordered as Thorn rolled his eyes as he turned his attention back to the dead winner.
"Now why the fuck did you have to go and open your big mouth, huh?" Thorn asked the corpse as he increased the ice magic.
"When will we begin the next stage of your plan, Master Jiemma?" Freed asked as the three entered the master's office. The demon sat down and the two mages stood at attention.
"It will be soon." The master answered as the two gave a nod. But suddenly, the two felt something, causing them to turn around. Jiemma narrowed his eyes at them. "What are you two doing?"
"I sense something is nearby."
"Not something…someone." Freed corrected as Rufus gave a nod. What were these two talking about? Jiemma needed to know now.
"A group from one of our guilds." Rufus added.
"Sabertooth or Fairy Tail?"
"Fairy Tail." Freed replied. "Though I cannot tell who but it is someone from that guild."
"How far are they?"
"I sense they have just entered the town." Freed replied as Jiemma gave a nod.
"Go and deal with them. Drive them out of this town and show them no mercy!" Jiemma ordered.
"If we could Master, take one of our lovely…pet snakes with us? I have an idea I think would be…quite the impressive bite to show them." Rufus smirked as the demon thought about that for a moment before giving them a nod.
"Very well. But you had better not lose them or I'll make you suffer a greater death than those two weaklings suffered!" The demon hissed as the two mages gave a now, bowing to their master.
"Of course Master. We hear you loud and clear." The two smirked before walking out of the office and headed to Dr. Gail's lab to gather the snakes. Jiemma watched as the two exited his office.
'What do those two want with our snakes? Better yet…which snakes are they planning to use?' The demon thought as he lean against his chair.
Outside…
Walking through the town of Corhill, Team Shadow Gear walked through and asking the townspeople if they had heard of the guild Viper Bite. All of the answers were no. All days the team had been going through each of the towns asking if they had heard of the guild. In hopes of somehow rescuing both Freed and Rufus. Levy let out a sigh as she finished talking to a business owner.
"We've been at this all day and no one has heard of Viper Bite." The leader said as she turned to find Jet and Droy walked up. "Any luck?"
"Seems like no one has heard of Viper Bite. All we've been getting are 'no' and 'never heard of them' answers." Jet replied as Droy gave a nod as he took a bit of turkey leg.
"It's hopeless! We'll never find Viper Bite and Freed will never come back to Fairy Tail and the Raijinshuu won't be the same again and Laxus will be in even more danger without Freed and Bickslow and Ever will be lost without their caption and Laxus will be depressed because him and Freed didn't get to go on that one date they had planned." Droy cried as he took another bite of his meal.
"It's not hopeless!" Levy exclaimed. "We will not give up on finding him and Rufus! Fairy Tail doesn't give up on one of our own. We're family and family doesn't give up!"
"You're right, Levy-chan! If you won't give up hope and we won't either!" Jet agreed as Droy nodded as tears fell.
"Let's finish with this town and stay for the night before heading to the next town in the morning." Levy suggested as the two gave a nod. The team started to walk towards the next group of people when they saw a fox run out of an empty house. The group stopped and noticed the fox had stolen a blanket from the house.
"Oi! Bring that back!" Jet called out to the fox. The animal stopped, looked over to Shadow Gear and ran back off. Into the direction of the woods. "We have to go after that fox! It could be someone's only blanket they have."
"Alright, but we have to do this quick." Levy agreed as they gave a nod. The three mages followed the fox into the woods. Jet ran ahead of them by just a little bit to keep up with the fox.
Noticing that there were humans following it, the fox gave up and dropped the blanket. But instead of it falling onto the ground, the wind caught it and flew right into Jet's face. Coming to a sudden stop, the speed mage came to stop when the blanket blinded his vision.
"ARC! STUPID FOX!" He hollered as he tried to get the blanket off him.
"Jet!" Levy called out as her and Droy caught up with him.
"That stupid fox let the blanket go and it flew into my damn face and I can't get it off!" Struggling to get it off, Levy giggled while Droy caught his breath.
"Hold still and I'll get it off!" Levy offered as he calmed down, allowing her to rip the blanket off his face.
"Woo! Thanks Levy-chan!" Jet thanked as he turned toward her. Giving a nod, Levy smiled and started to fold the blanket. "Now let's get out of here and go get a hotel for the night."
"Sounds like a- Droy?" Levy started to agree but stopped when she turned around and saw the plant mage's face.
Droy had an expression of pure shock, no, horror all over his face and speaking of his face. It was pale as if he had seen a ghost. Blinking, both Levy and Jet were confused by the plant mage's sudden expression.
"Oi Droy! What's wrong?" Jet asked as Droy slowly pointed in their direction.
"L-L-Look…be-behind y-you." Droy finally answered. Both blinking, they turn around to see two figures behind them, their glowing red eyes standing out from afar. Though they were far away, it was clear who they were. Levy's mouth dropped open and Jet's eyes widen when the two figures became clearer.
"It's…it's Freed and Rufus!" The two dark mages smirked as they watched Shadow Gear stare at them in terror. Rufus tipped his hat off to them as Freed chuckled.
"Freed, Rufus." Levy only managed to get out after starring at them for what seemed like forever. They looked so…dark compare to what they usually looked like. Their eyes are what were scary the most...pitch black sclera and blood red eyes.
"What are you two doing here?!" Jet demanded as he pointed at the two of them.
"Oh? What are we doing here?" A voice suddenly came from behind them. Turning around, Droy just about jumped ten feet in the air when he saw Rufus behind him. Letting out a scream, he jumped back and held his hand over his chest.
"What are you trying to do!? Give me a heart attack and let me die!?" Droy cried as Rufus began to think.
"Hmm that wasn't in the plan but that doesn't sound like a bad idea."
"IT WAS A FIGURE OF SPEECH!" Droy shouted.
"You didn't answer my question either! What are you two doing here?" Jet questioned as the two dark mages smirked.
"That…is for us to know and you to never figure out." Freed answered that sent chills down the team's spins.
"Fight us!" Droy demanded while pointing his turkey leg at Rufus.
"You couldn't even catch me if you even tried. You'd be tired out within a half a minute of running." Rufus commented.
"Yeah you've got a point- HEY!"
"Freed, please! Stop this! Come back with us. We can figure a way to break the mind controlling spell!" Levy begged as the greenette just chuckled while shaking his head.
"I am with Viper Bite now and have no desire to return to that…guild that does nothing more than destroy everything they touch? Causing more harm than good? I think not!" Freed insulted.
"How could you say that about your own guild?!"
"VIPER BITE IS MY GUILD NOW!" Freed snapped.
"Freed, should we do what we have set out to do now?" Rufus asked as the other smirked and gave a nod.
"I do believe so." Freed agreed. The three backed up into each other as the two mages took a few steps toward them. "Hold them still."
"Very well and I know the spell that will do the job." Rufus answered as the three gulped. "Memory Make! Showering Ancient Wisdom!"
All three were forced down when the gravity suddenly changed. First Levy went down, followed by Jet and finally Droy.
"UH DROY! YOU NEED TO GO ON A DIET! YOU'RE CRUSHING US!" Jet screamed. With the plant mage on top of them, it made it feel as if Droy weight a ton than he did.
"Perfect. Now they won't try to run away." Freed smirked as he snapped his fingers and three small boxes appeared and fell to the ground.
The three of them watched the boxes carefully as they opened. Six pairs of eyes appeared out from the darkness of the boxes. Slowly they came out to revile three dark green and brown snakes. Shadow Gear's eyes widen when they saw the three snakes.
"Well it seems we do not have to use any fire magic to burn their clothes for a decent biting spot." Rufus observed as Freed nodded in agree.
"Wait…THEY'RE GOING TO BITE US?!" Jet and Droy shrieked at the same time.
"Why, of course. We are named after a snake." The blond chuckled as Levy stop a glare at Freed.
"You'd never do this to us! You would never try and poison one of your own comrades!" Levy voiced.
"Well it's a good thing we aren't comrades then!" Freed laughed. "Because I don't give a damn because Viper Bite will destroy Fairy Tail and Sabertooth!" With that said, the greenette snapped his fingers and the snakes slid over to the three mages.
"The snakes will be affected the gravity change!" Jet smirked as he watched the three entered the light…and not be affected at all. "HUH?!"
"We made sure they wouldn't be affected by the spell." Rufus chuckled as the three found exposed skin to bite. All three tried to move but it was no use.
All three gasped when they felt the fangs pierced their skin. Groaning and moaning as the mages felt the poison enter their bodies. The gravity change spell vanished as the two mages watched the snakes eject its poison into their bodies. The snakes lasted only a few minutes before they released and returned to their boxes. By then, all three began to hiss in pain.
"Excellent. The poison is starting to take affect." Rufus commented as Levy looked up to them.
"W-what did…you do to us!" She cried.
"Ejected a poison that causes pain to the person who is bitten." They answered.
"And will make you ill." Freed added as Droy began to shake.
"I-I-I'm beginning to feel t-that part." He answered as the two dark mages looked at each other and smirked.
"We have a message for our former guilds." Rufus spoke. "Vipe Bite is ready for war." And with that said, the group was teleported back into Corhill…just as Panther Lily and Gajeel walked out of a house.
"What the hell?" Gajeel asked when the team suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The Iron Dragon Slayer and exceed rushed to their sides and right away, noticed something was wrong.
"What on Earth happened to you three?" Panther Lily asked as Gajeel picked Levy up into his arms. He could feel her trembling and noticed she had a nasty looking bit mark.
"Shrimp…what fuck happened to you!" Looking over to the dragon slayer that held her close, Levy coughed.
"It looks like they've been poisoned." The exceed answered as he checked on Droy and Jet. Also seeing they too had nasty bites.
"Freed…and Rufus." Levy managed to get out before she coughed. Gajeel's eyes widen and growled.
"Those bastards! WHERE ARE YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES! COME OUT HERE AND FIGHT ME!" Gajeel screamed.
"We have more important things than pick a fight with them, Gajeel. We need to get them back to Sabertooth so they can receive medical treatment." Lily pointed out as the dragon slayer snarled, but looked down at Levy before closing his eyes.
"Yeah…" Gajeel said as he stood up with Levy in his arms. Panther Lily went into his battle mode and picked up the other two members. Taking a card out of his pocket, Gajeel contacted Sabertooth. "Oi! We've got injured here! Teleport us back to Sabertooth!"
As soon as it came through, Minerva teleported the groups back to Sabertooth. When they arrived back to the guild, Shadow Gear was immediately taken to the infirmary. Fairy Tail in disbelief when they saw the Levy, Jet and Droy in their conditions. Makarov walked up to Gajeel and Panther Lily, he needed answers now.
"What happened, Gajeel?"
"I don't know but apparently they ran into Freed and that Rufus. They've been poisoned too. I wasn't there but…they aren't playing those two. They're dangerous now." Gajeel answered as Makarov let out a sigh and turned toward the direction of the infirmary. This was KILLING him. Freed, one of his brats, one of his kids…was hurting his own family and he couldn't do anything about it. He was under Jiemma's control so he had to do it or who knows what the demon master would do to him. He was scared for Freed and Rufus's wellbeing, but hearing this made his heart ache.
'Why is this happening? Why did Jiemma have to target Freed? They had never met before and I am worried about his wellbeing. Though I am also worried about Rufus's as well.' Makarov thought as he looked over to Sting who did not look pleased at all. He was angry at Jiemma and not Rufus. They all understood that the two mages had no control over what they were doing. It was all Jiemma's doing.
'We have many unanswered questions and this just adds to it.'
A few hours passed and the guilds were given the clear sign that they could visit the three ill mages. Both guildmasters were the first to enter, seeing how pale all three truly were. They did indeed look sick. Makarov walked up to Levy's bedside. Her shoulder was bandage up from where she had been bitten. Seeing one of his children in this condition just made his heart ache even more.
"How are you feeling, my child?" He softly asked as the script mage gave a very weak smile to the master.
"H-Hanging…in there Master." She whispered, but he could hear the pain her voice.
"I don't want to stay long, but I need to ask you a few questions." Levy gave a very small nod. "We're you attacked by Freed and Rufus?"
"N-No. We went…after a fox that-that stole someone's blanket. T-The fox went into the woods and…that's where-where they were." She answered as Sting walked over to her side.
"What were you bitten by?"
"A-A…sn-snake."
"Could you recognize the snake?" Makarov asked as Levy shook her head.
"I-I've never seen it before."
"From the information they gave to me," Porlyusica started as she turned away from working on a medicine to give the three mages. "It either is a new breed of snakes or this Jiemma has created a new breed of snake."
"I would not be surprised if he did." Sting commented as he scratched the back of his head. "Uh Levy, did they leave a message behind or anything?" Levy gave another small nod.
"Y-Yes."
"What was it?" Makarov asked as she looked straight into the old man's eyes.
"V-Viper Bite is…is ready for war"