AN: Hey guys! Got another chapter here for ya. Hope you all like it, cuz I really enjoyed writing it! As always, any reviews, follows, favorites, whatever are very much appreciated. Enjoy!
Notice: I'm not Hiro Mashima, and therefore don't own Fairy Tail.
Chapter 23: Erza vs. Ezra
The fight was finally over. Masud was gone. Gildarts and Makarov lay strewn about in the private coliseum like rag dolls, their magic energy drained, their pride wounded.
"Makarov…" Gildarts whispered weakly. "Is this… the end of Fairy Tail?"
"No, Gildarts. If there's one thing I know about this guild, it's that the more the odds are stacked against my children, the more likely they are to prevail in the end," the old man replied.
Gildarts chuckled. "You sure have a lot of confidence in these kids."
"Not confidence. Merely observation."
Ezra didn't react to Erza's first strike. He flew backwards into the wall, with a nasty gash left on his right shoulder. As he struggled to his feet, a voice escaped from his mouth, but it was not his own.
"Fool. Why did you release the girl? Kill her now before she ruins the plan!" With Ezra's words, a thick black smoke streamed from his mouth. His eyes glazed over, and his facial features sharpened. His mouth formed a demonic version of his characteristic grin.
Erza gasped. "Ezra, what's happening to you?"
Ezra's long, pointed tongue slowly licked his lips. "Oh, don't you know? I'm Ezra's true form. You'll learn to fear me properly like the others soon enough."
Nath was backed up against the opposite wall, trembling in fear. "Wh-wh-what have you done?" his voice quivered. "Now we're all in for it. No one in this town will survive this day!"
And truly, Nath had reason to fear. Ezra's already impressive magic power had skyrocketed. The walls cracked a little bit just by being near him. The force was akin to what Erza had experienced when she fought Master Hades.
Ezra snarled and attacked. Bursts of fire erupted from the bottom of his boots, propelling him toward Erza at blindingly fast speed. He struck at her with a long knife he had conjured. Even though she parried, the force of his strike sliced right through her blade and left a scar on her left cheek.
Ezra floated up to the roof of the room. Jets of fire were streaming from the bottom of his boots, keeping him aloft. "How are you doing that?" Erza demanded.
"Sparky makes the best toys," he replied maliciously. He pulled out a small, black, round object and dropped it onto the floor. Smoke billowed up and engulfed the room in darkness. In the fog, Ezra lashed out at her from all sides. Erza was powerless to defend herself against her unseen enemy.
She managed to requip into her Blackwing armor and blow away the smoke. Remember who you're fighting for, she told herself. You can't afford to lose. She lashed out at Ezra with a cry, slicing and chopping away at him, putting him on the defensive. As long as he was on the defensive, Erza had a chance of victory.
She smashed him into the wall with her Holy Hammer. While Ezra was recovering from the blow, she requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor and, struggling, summoned as many swords as she possibly could. When Ezra looked up, his face for a moment assumed an emotion other than demonic arrogance.
"Goodbye, Ezra."
There they flew- over one hundred swords, all primed to skewer one target.
"Body requip- blade slots!"
Ezra crouched slightly, and put his arms up with the back of his forearms facing Erza. His whole body shimmered, and all over his body appeared slits- slits perfectly shaped to fit the blades Erza had thrown at him. The blades all sunk into his body with an ominous thunk.
Ezra flexed his muscles, and the swords all clattered to the floor. Erza couldn't believe her eyes.
Ezra's maniacal laugh filled the chamber, while Wendy, Carla and Nath looked on in horror.
Ezra's body began to change in the same matter it had when she fought him before; sword blades erupted from all parts of his body, encasing him in a personal cage of sharpened steel. "You didn't honestly think you could beat me with a bunch of blades, did you? I AM blades!"
The attack was the same as before. Ezra's Steel Whirlwind technique had defeated Erza before, when she hadn't already fought two powerful foes. There was no way Erza could stand up to it now. It was all she could do to remain standing during the barrage of attacks.
Ezra relented his attack after a minute. "So, how 'bout it, Titania? You ready to surrender right about now? Before I finish cutting what remains of your life's thread?"
Erza gritted her teeth, but felt herself sink to her knees. "I will not lose to you. I will not allow my guild to be defeated!"
"Heh. I think I'm starting to get mixed signals here, my dear. I think I'd better show you a terrifying display of my full power!" He summoned a pair of long cutting knives with ornamental runes engraved on the side of them. "How fitting. These same knives inflicted these scars so long ago, and today they're going to reopen them."
He raised the knives to his face. "Second origin! Activate!"
He sliced the knives down right along his X-shaped scars. The scars and his eyes lit up a dark-tinged golden-brown. Dust and debris began swirling around Ezra's feet, and he lifted into the air. He attacked Erza with his bare hands, each of his fingers requipped into a knife. His blows drove her onto her back.
Ezra struck again and again, each spasm more vindictive than the last. Erza's screams rang all throughout the room. Ezra finally merged his arms into a huge double-bladed battle axe. "With this blow, I claim victory for myself. I claim victory for all of Hydra Claw!"
Then his body began to spasm and convulse violently. Ezra punched himself in the face several times. Erza was powerless to do anything except watch. The glow in Ezra's scars and eyes faded. His eyes were no longer glazed over.
"Hurry, Erza." It was back to Ezra's normal voice. "Kill me while I still have control."
"Ezra- you…"
"Shut up," Ezra pressed a blade into Erza's hands. "There's no time. Get it over with."
Erza couldn't stand up. Remember who you're fighting for. The whole guild needs you. Remember what you told Gray. You have the entire force of Fairy Tail behind you.
With shaky legs, she stood, walked a few steps over to where Ezra lay, and then collapsed to her knees. She knelt over Ezra's body, splayed out before her. His body-requips had disappeared.
"Erza…" he croaked. "Please…"
Erza tried to swallow, but her throat was dry as a bone.
She raised the knife.
You're the only one who isn't scared of me.
Why was she remembering that now? So what if Ezra had said that? It was just a lie, right?
Erza thought of Nath, cowering in the corner.
She thought of how Ezra had kissed her hand every time he saw her. She thought of his masterful good-natured swordplay. She thought of the enchanted chocolate, and Ezra's feeling he needed to get her to trust him. She thought of the enormous strawberry cake.
She thought of his devilish smile.
She dropped the knife. It clattered to the floor next to Ezra's body.
Instead of killing Ezra, she kissed him.
When she pulled away, she was gasping for breath. Her vision flickered. "I wanted to do that… just one more time."
"Erza… no, please- I'm begging you-"
"I could never kill you, Ezra. Never. I…"
Erza's eyes were already closed. She had already lost consciousness when Ezra's eyes flickered back to golden-brown.
Running through the hallways of the ship, following Kamarr's directions to the inner sanctum, Gray heard and recognized Erza's screams. He followed their chorus to the throne room. He busted down the door, and saw Nath cowering in the corner. He saw the Strauss siblings, Lucy, and Wendy chained up on the wall. He saw the pair kissing on the floor. He heard what Erza said.
He saw when Ezra's eyes returned to their golden-brown glow. He saw Ezra rip his shirt open, saw his rib bones become sword blades that jutted outward, that punctured Erza all over her body.
He heard a scream. It was his own.
You like? Please let me know! This is one of those chapters that seems pretty easy to do badly, so I really hope you enjoyed it! Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful day. Thanks for reading!