Chapter 11: Gray and Juvia vs Totomaru and Aria!
"FOR FAIRY TAIL!" The gang shouted together as they rushed towards City Hall, the Phantom Lord lackeys standing their guard. Natsu lead the charge with his fists ignited.
"Bring Lucy back!" He snapped beginning his assault the rest of Fairy Tail following in tow. Natsu mindlessly swung at each person he saw that bore the Phantom Lord ensignia. Erza hacked and slashed her way through the large crowd. Juvia, and Gray also were making their way through the crowd. Gray had thrown away his white jacket leaving him shirtless, the black substance covering half of his body.
They continued their attack on the streets for several minutes, the sounds of clashing swords, cracking ice, swishing water and of course sizzling flames bounced off the surrounding buildings. Several gobsmacked families watched down at the spectacle unwinding right under their cozy apartments. Kids all wrapped in blankets and wearing pajamas cheered on thinking that this whole thing was awesome. Meanwhile concerned parents were calling the police over the apparent gang war taking place on the streets below.
Back down the fight had started to turn the tide, the numbers of Phantom Lord had started to catch up to Fairy Tail. Natsu was starting to grow weary, his arms growing heavier with each thrust of his torching arm. He backed up to avoid an attacker who carried a spear, accidentally backing into Cana and Elfman, who were in the same boat as Natsu. They soon went back to back struggling to keep their breath.
"This is insane...There are so many of them…" Cana muttered, grabbing a few glowing cards from her tote bag and threw them, mini explosions erupted upon the card's contact with the enemies chest, scattering them through the air.
"Not to mention they are definitely stronger than the ones they had back at their guild hall!" Elfman added, his arm shifted to one of pure metal as he swung around at the oncomers.
"That may be true...but we can't give up now!" Natsu declared, combining two smaller fireballs into one larger one, he jumped into the air and spiked it onto the street, another explosion caused more Phantom Lord troops to get sent packing.
"Natsu's right! The manly thing to do would be to fight until the end!" Elfman followed Natsu's lead and charged head first into the crowd once more. Cana stared at the two males, a sly smirk playing on her face as she reached for more of her cards.
"I swear when this whole thing is over Imma get hammered!" She stood stationary and tossed the cards up into the air, they began to swirl around and create a twister that spun several Phantom Lord members around shooting them in every direction. Meanwhile, even Erza was beginning to feel fatigued, each time she swapped her armor, it felt like her body would just stop working. She changed into her Wind God armor, clutching her wind and water swords in both her hands, she slashed at every enemy she could find, however she had exerted too much power and eventually fell to her knees, panting, her armor reverting back into her normal silver chestplate with a blue skirt. Glancing over to the hooded figure that was her pink haired friend, he was struggling to catch his breath much like herself, but he wasn't backing down. That's when she saw the look in his eyes, she saw the look of pure determination.
"Natsu...despite us being so vastly outnumbered, you are pushing forth….You won't stop until Lucy is safe...So neither shall I! As long as this body of mine can breath, I will have the power to fight!" Slowly she rose to her feet, she didn't have the strength to do a full armor swap at the moment, but she was able to summon a sword to aid her attack. Then something caught her attention, six men were stationary on top of the City Hall building, all holding a large cylinder object over their shoulders whilst they knelt down looking down at the action. Erza's eyes shot open.
"WE GOT ROCKETS IN BOUND!" She shouted to alert her comrades, the fighting seemed to cease at once, everyone Fairies and Phantoms alike looking around for what Erza was saying. That's when the first shot was fired. Nobody had time to react, except for her who had seen it coming. She leapt into the path of the incoming missile, she drew every last bit of strength she could manage to swap armors one last time. Now clad in a bulky silver and black suit of armor that covered her entire body she slammed her arms together creating a large metallic shield awaiting the blast.
"ERZA LOOK OUT!" Gray shouted racing into her direction.
"ERZA NO!" Natsu rushed towards her, she snapped her head in the direction they were coming from.
"STAND BACK!" She commanded, but the two didn't listen, and pressed forward.
"WE WON'T STAND BACK AND LET OUR FRIEND DIE!" Natsu yelled back, Erza felt her heart warm at his words, but that wasn't going to deter her from what needed to be done.
"Listen to me Natsu, Gray-..." She didn't get to finish as the rocket made contact with her shield. Natsu and Gray screamed her name as the rocket exploded instantaneously. The blast sounded throughout the city, echoing as smoke soon engulfed the street. Everyone gawked at the scene playing out in front of them. Natsu and Gray stopped in their tracks, a look of pure horror on their faces.
"Erza…" Gray muttered, Natsu stayed silent, his hands squeezed shut forming tight fists. The smoke cleared soon, and a single figure was left standing there.
"You're okay?!" Natsu asked in disbelief. Sure enough Erza was standing still, completely unfazed, her armor had started to crack, and she had been pushed back several feet.
"Of course I am! My Adamantine armor can withstand any blast." Erza gritted her teeth as she got out of her defensive stance awaiting the next shot.
"You're insane, you know that?" Erza smiled at Gray's comment.
"And you aren't? It's the middle of winter and you are naked." Natsu turned to look at Gray and regretted it immediately.
"Dude! Put some clothes on, I'm gonna vomit!"
"Huh?" Gray looked down, his eyes widened.
"OH NO WHERE DID MY PANTS GO?!" He covered himself with his hands, blushing as he looked around for his pants. Several of the female members of Phantom Lord were staring at him with light blushes on their cheeks. Which was not good for them, because it wasn't long before…
"STOP STARING AT MY MAN YOU BIMBOS!" Juvia yelled creating a large blast of water that pushed them back. Turning around to face the still naked Gray she handed him a pair of pants.
"Gray darling, you have to break this habit, you're lucky Juvia brought a spare." Gray flushed and took the pants, pulling them on, muttering his thanks.
"Listen to me, you three. I will hold off the rockets, but you need to go inside while we have the chance. Remember why we are here, go save Lucy! The rest of us are fine down here."
"Erza that's insane we won't just leave you!" Gray argued, Erza glanced over making eye contact with Natsu. He nodded, and picked Gray up, much to the ice user's chagrin.
"Hey put me down fire freak!"
"Sorry, you heard Erza's orders. Let's go! Come on Juvia!" He ran off still holding Gray as Juvia followed, Erza took a shaky breath as she braced herself for the next RPG shot. Elfman had heard the whole conversation and was also now making a break for the City Hall building.
"This is a job for a real man. Hang on guys I'm coming to help!"
Erza smirked at his antics, but soon the next shot had been fired, she braced herself, and got pushed back once more, her armor began to break away from the explosion. She groaned.
"Please hurry, I have no idea how long I can hold them off."
"Bisca, do you have a clear shot?" Alzack asked from behind Erza, she whipped her head around to look at the two gun users, Bisca held a sniper rifle and was currently setting her sights on the three people on the roof.
"Of course sugah, I never miss remember." She pulled the trigger, and at once the rubber bullet left the barrel of the rifle, whizzing through the air. It looked as if it would land a direct hit to one of the rocket launcher's heads, but at the last minute something blocked the bullet's path. A large rock wall had popped up to protect the three gunners.
"Now what the heck is this?" Bisca asked, lowering her gun.
"They have someone else up there. They must be making sure we don't take them out…" Alzack spoke looking through his scope as the rock wall soon disappeared, and another rocket was fired. Erza shakily prepared herself for it, and raised her shield once more.
Natsu, Gray, Juvia, and Elfman had made their way inside the large building. They stood in the main lobby, looking around. It was eerie, a large room, usually so loud it was dead silent. Their footsteps echoed with each step they took on the polished wood floor.
"Where do you think they would be keeping her in this place?" Gray asked as Natsu finally put him down onto the ground.
Natsu sniffed the air, something smelled off. It was sulfury, he grimaced at the stench. Shaking his thoughts away from the smell, he turned to face the others.
"Do you think we should split up? We can cover more ground that way." The others seemed uneasy, but agreed that might be their best option. Before they were able to act out on their plan someone's phone began ringing. Elfman fished it out of his jean pockets, and looked at the caller ID.
"Hello?" He answered and the other's looked at each other shrugging, as Elfman nodded his head at the murmurs coming from his phone. He noticed their looks and turned it on speaker. Mira's voice soon graced their ears.
"There is somebody up on the roof preventing us from taking out the missile launchers...We need you to take care of them."
"You can count on me big sis! I'll handle this like a real man!" Elfman grinned.
"I know I can always rely on you." Mira replied, but then soon she let out a shriek.
"MIRA?!" Elfman cried out, as the phone call ended. Elfman stared down at it, silently.
"Elfman?" Natsu began, but Elfman held up his hand to stop him.
'You heard her, I need to head up to the roof. I can take care of whatever is waiting up there." He turned and began walking towards the direction that would lead to the roof.
"Are you sure you want to go alone?" Juvia asked. Elfman gave a small nod as he walked away.
"Of course. I can handle this, I am a real man after all…" He walked away without another word. The remaining three huddled up.
"Okay so what's the plan of attack?" Gray pondered. Natsu opened his mouth to reply, but that sulfuric smell soon clouded his senses once more, this time it was stronger than before. He turned his head in the direction of the smell, his eyes widened.
"GET DOWN!" The three ducked down in time for them to avoid getting hit by an orange fireball. It dissolved upon hitting the wall, a foul stench filled the entire room. They all gagged, and covered their noses.
"This must be Totomaru's fire…" Juvia muttered. Soon laughing filled the room. A figure clad in red, with black and white hair tied up in a high knot emerged.
"So the traitor returns...Been awhile hasn't it Rain Woman?" The man spoke, Gray through his arm protectively in front of her.
"Who the Hell are you?" He grit his teeth, the man looked at him with a large grin on his face.
"Oh she hasn't told you about me? Juviey, my feelings are hurt. I guess I must introduce myself. I am Totomaru, the fire of the element three...formerly four." Juvia looked uneasy avoiding looking at her friends, and her former teammate.
"Fire huh? Nice to know I'm not the only one." Natsu grinned igniting his hand, Totomaru, laughed again.
"You call that pitiful flame fire?! I'll show you real fire! Behold the power of Phantom Lord's Totomaru!" He yelled out holding out his hands and two discolored fire balls erupted from his palms. One was orange, the other was blue. He threw them at the three who were all able to dodge. They both disappeared, leaving the air cooler, and smellier than before. Natsu flung his own fireball at Totomaru who didn't budge, in fact he held out his hand, and caught it?
"What the…"
"Natsu! Your fire won't have any effect on him, he can absorb flames and use it to make his flames stronger!" Juvia told him as Natsu's attack became smaller as Totomaru absorbed it through his palm.
"Now you tell me…" Natsu muttered. Gray, then took this as his turn to attack. Rushing forward, he slapped his fist against his palm.
"Fire made be useless, but my ice can withstand any heat!" He hopped into the air and a large sword made of ice was in his hand. He was about to swing it down onto Totomaru, but a strong gust of wind knocked him back into Natsu and Juvia. They all fell to the ground as another figure walked into the room.
"I thought I heard something coming in this direction, how sad….I really do despise violence, but I will do what must be done to please my Master's wishes!" A tall bulky figure stood next to Totomaru who grinned at him. Juvia's eyes widened.
"Hey there big guy."
"No way...Aria too?" Juvia muttered horrified as she slowly got up to her feet. Gray and Natsu doing the same.
"Juvia is that you? How sorrowful to see you working with the enemy." The man began to sob. Totomaru rolled his eyes.
"Yeah I know she's a traitor...but we gotta focus, these three are here to mess up the boss' plans."
"In that case I must stop them!" Aria stopped sobbing at once and a strong breeze filled the room.
"Juvia, what's his deal?" Gray asked, covering his face.
"His name is Aria...he controls the element of air. He is probably the strongest member of the three…."
"If that's the case things just got harder. Natsu, stay out of this fight." Gray spoke, getting into a stance as the wind stopped, Juvia followed his actions as they stared down Aria and Totomaru.
"What?! Why?!" Natsu demanded crossing his arms, he was not happy with taking orders from Gray, who rolled his eyes at his actions.
"Your powers are useless against him, remember? Besides….You need to find Lucy." Natsu opened his mouth to argue, but Gray was right. He grumbled as he turned around and raced down the halls, leaving the four alone in the main room.
"He'll never find her, and if he does Black Steel is awaiting his arrival." Totomaru spoke. As the four began to circle each other.
"There is no way he will retrieve the girl, how sorrowful for you!"
"You're wrong. Natsu will get her back, you underestimate just how stubborn he is. Juvia are you ready?"
"Of course my love."
"Then let's do this!" Gray threw his hands on the ground, icy spikes shot out from the ground. Juvia swung her arms, creating water blades that shot through the air.
"My once friend is now my enemy, how sad…" Aria mumbled as he waved his arms creating a current that caused Juvia's attack to be useless. He then held out his palm and shot a strong blast of wind. Totomaru hopped out of the path of Gray's attack.
"I'm not stupid, I know I have no chance of beating Juvia, but I can take you on, the infamous Ice Demon!" He landed and flung several blue and orange fireballs directed at Gray, Gray reacted quickly creating a wall of ice to block himself and Juvia from the attacks. Juvia raced forward at Aria.
"I may once have been a member of Phantom Lord, as well as the element four, but make no mistake. I would never be friends with you three sadistic assholes!" She attacked with a water tendril, whipping it around at Aria, who evaded her onslaught.
"H-how could you say something so cruel! It makes me so sad!" He wept. Juvia, didn't stop attacking though. Gray had created an ice hammer above Totomaru's head, he rolled out of the way as it came crashing down, splintering the wooden floor.
"Missed me snowball!" Totomaru gloated, holding out his hand he created a large blast of blue fire.
"You haven't seen anything yet!" The air grew cold as Gray leapt out of the blast's path and created several ice spears that were flying towards Totomaru. He managed to avoid being impaled by them, but some still managed to cut him. Aria had found an opening to attack Juvia, sending her flying through the air with a strong current. Juvia flipped in the air creating a spiraling water blast from her hands. Aria started it down, and thrust his fist in a punching motion. A blast of air shot out, causing Juvia's attack to go backwards towards, and hit Juvia. She cried out as she was sent into a wall by her own attack. She shook off the pain as she leapt down onto the ground, as Aria created a large vortex around her, she attempted to block as it constricted around her. She began to create her own vortex of water, spiraling in the opposite direction. Soon both were canceled out, leaving her to stare down Aria.
"As a child I never fit in….and then I joined Phantom Lord. The only person who treated me with an ounce of kindness was Gajeel...It wasn't until I joined Fairy Tail that I learned what it truly meant to have real friends. My beloved Gray showed me that they make you stronger, they don't treat you like you are weaker!" She snapped at the air elemental, who stared at her as she created a large wave. It swallowed Aria and pushed him back. From where they were now trading punches, Gray and Totomaru didn't see the large wave coming towards them until it was too late. They all got thrown into a wall with a soon realized her mistake and caused the wave to vanish.
"Gray my love, are you hurt?" She ran towards him, where he was slouched over on his hands and knees, hacking out water from his mouth, he was soaked. Upon hearing her approach he slowly stood to his feet.
"How is it whenever we fight together...I get wet?" He jokingly asked about getting up to his feet. She enveloped him in a hug.
"Juvia just gets carried away, and is sorry for hurting her love!" He hugged her back awkwardly, as Aria, and Totomaru slowly recovered.
"Brats…." Totomaru spoke rising to his feet. Aria stayed back as Totomaru began to charge up his next attack. He drew the katana that was attached to his belt, holding it up it began to glow rainbow colors, and ignited in flames. He shot towards Gray with his flaming sword. Gray reacted quickly, by creating an ice shield. However, when Totomaru swung his fiery sword, it shattered Gray's shield, simultaneously burning and cutting his chest. He groaned out in pain, as Totomaru's face twisted in a malicious grin. He swung at Gray again, who reacted by summoning a sword that shattered upon contact with Totomaru's blade.
"What's the matter? Is your ice no match for my rainbow flames?" He taunted slashing his blade through the air creating a blast of rainbow flames that sent Gray across the room.
"GRAY!" Juvia yelled, rushing at Totomaru, but Aria stepped in, creating a current that made her come closer to him. He delivered a punch to her stomach, sending her backwards. He then held out his palm right in front of her face.
"Zetsu." He whispered, Juvia's eyes widened in fear as purple circles covered her body, and soon exploded, in small contained, yet extremely powerful explosions, she fell to the ground crying out in pain, as Aria proceeded to throw her through the air with another powerful wind blast, his zetsu attack still in full effect. Her clothes began to tear with each explosion that occurred on her body.
"JUVIA NO!" Gray yelled out watching her squirm in pain as she landed on the ground next to him.
"You might want to focus on your battle with me!" Totomaru shouted slashing at Gray who ducked the sword attack. Ice covered his arm and threw a punch that sent Totomaru into Aria causing the both of them to smash into the receptionist's desk, breaking it in half. The attack on Juvia stopped, allowing her to catch her breath and groggily get back to her feet wincing in pain. Across the room the two enemies had risen to their feet, and were angry.
"You two will pay dearly!" Totomaru held up his hands, his rainbow fire charging up.
"Young love, usually so beautiful, must sadly be destroyed!" Aria reached up and untied his blindfold. A strong wind current surrounded the two.
"Gray, we must do something fast before he has time to use this move!" Juvia told her partner who glanced at her.
"What is it?" He asked.
"He calls it the airspace of death, we must hurry."
"Okay...I have an idea, we should do the thing." Juvia looked surprised as she stared at Gray, the two Phantom Lord members charging up their attacks.
"But Gray my love...We haven't gotten it correct yet! We need more practice." She argued.
"No better time to get it right, than now…Do you trust me?"
"Of course I do!"
"Then let's combine our powers." He held out his hand, Juvia looked down at it, she took a breath to calm her nerves.
"If this doesn't work, we could die."
"Don't worry about that, because it will work." Juvia nodded and intertwined her fingers with his. Their hands began to glow as they focused their power into their interlocked hands.
"You cannot win, so just give up now!" Totomaru gloated, Juvia and Gray ignored him and kept their eyes locked on the other's. The smokey wind ring around them picked up.
"Are you ready?" Gray asked her, she nodded.
"Enough chatter, time to die! Behold the power of the Element three!" Totomaru yelled out, and his rainbow flames shot from his hands. Aria continued charging up his attack.
"It's now or never Juvia!"
"Indeed my love! Let's do it!" They released their combined power, a swirling spiral of water put Totomaru's flames out of commission right away, and soon the spiral was freezing, large spikes forming. The attack hit Totomaru and Aria, and sent them crashing into the wall. The ice froze them to it as they were blacked out, while frozen to the wall.
"It worked…" Gray painted, his energy completely drained.
"Just like you said it would…." Juvia agreed, also struggling for breath, the two smiled at each other and leaned in for a gentle kiss before they fell to their knees. Hands still interlocked.
"I...love you Gray…." Juvia whispered in his ear, he blushed and kissed her forehead.
"Me too…" They soon fell to the ground losing consciousness, holding each other tightly.
Chapter 12: Awakened Beast