Chapter 4 - Fierce Clash
Jackal was knocked back by Luffy's Second Gear-augmented fist, and attempted to go on the offensive.
"Bad move." Jackal said, confident in his Curse Power still in work as Luffy exploded again, but emerged not damaged to Jackal's shock once more.
"That won't work twice!" Luffy shouted, now doing a Gum-Gum Jet Stamp in the stomach hard.
Natsu and Soma did a double punch to the face, followed by a twin slash attack from Ruby and Hinata. The same thing happened to them in a result similar to Luffy, but they're also standing strong despite their injuries.
"How?! How are you all still standing?!" Jackal exclaimed.
Zoro, Nami, Robin, Lucy, Happy, Yachi, Erina and Hisako were watching in amazement at seeing Luffy, Natsu, Ruby, Hinata and Soma standing strong.
"Try and dodge this! Exploding Spiral!" Jackal shouted, swinging his arms to generate a massive explosion to engulf Luffy and the others. But Natsu managed to eat most of the explosion's heat, thus minimizing the damage dealt.
Jackal began to tremble in fear at seeing the five of them refusing to back down. Almost like they're not human in their own right. "What is up with them?! Even with some kind of strange gem to lessen the blasts, they should be in total agony from all those previous explosions!"
"These brats… are monsters!" Jackal thought, now taking more drastic measures to ensure victory by transforming into his Etherious Form. "But, SO AM I!"
Luffy and everyone else had their eyes widen in shock upon seeing Jackal's transformation.
"What the hell is that?!" Nami exclaimed.
Jackal roared so loudly it echoed across the island, before lunging at Luffy and the others. "I WON'T LET YOU PATHETIC HUMANS LOOK DOWN ON ME!"
Luffy, Natsu, Ruby, Hinata and Soma quickly dodged a punch to the ground that exploded. Zoro, Nami, Robin, Lucy, Happy, Yachi, Erina and Hisako quickly dodged as well from the incoming shockwave.
"Is that freak trying to destroy the whole island?!" Erina asked.
"He doesn't care about anything but himself!" Lucy answered, holding onto Happy.
"YOU HUMANS ARE NOTHING MORE THAN COCKROACHES TO US DEMONS! NOW DIE!" Jackal roared.
"Well you take us humans too lightly, dumbass!" Hinata shouted, igniting his swords with brighter flames than Natsu's.
"Sun Fire!" Hinata shouted, shooting a ball of sun-like flames from the tip of one of his swords at Jackal, delivering a square hit.
"And we're not the kind to back down when the people we love are in trouble!" Ruby hollered, speeding behind Jackal after he took a step back from the previous attack.
"Petal Burst!" Ruby shouted, unleashing her Semblance now as an attack, rapidly slicing and dicing in multiple directions that lacerated Jackal, who howled in pain.
"Doesn't matter if we're up against a human, dragon, demon, or even god!" Soma hollered, now making his move with his right metal fist charged with energy.
"And when you mess with our friends, you pay the price!" Natsu hollered, joining in with his Lightning Fire Dragon Mode activated.
"Soaring Dragon!" Soma shouted.
"Lightning Fire Dragon Firing Hammer!" Natsu shouted.
The two combined their fists for an explosive attack that damaged Jackal even more, but the Etherious refused to give up.
"I won't… quit!" Jackal declared, only to be met with Luffy standing in front of him with one arm stretched backward coated in Armament Haki, now coated in fire.
"Well too bad for you… this fight ends here!" Luffy hollered, completely confident.
"DO IT~!" Natsu, Ruby, Hinata, Soma, Zoro, Nami, Robin, Lucy, Happy, Yachi, Erina and Hisako shouted in unison, cheering for Luffy to land the last blow.
"Gum-Gum… RED HAWK~!" Luffy shouted, unleashing a fire-enhanced punch that dealt a critical blow to Jackal's stomach, fire erupted from the back before the demon was sent flying into a tree.
Completely knocked unconscious, Jackal reverted to his normal form, with his hair covering his eyes.
"It's over!" Nami cheered, relieved the fight is now over. Lucy, Erina, Yachi and Hisako were in a group hug, cheering in relief with small tears in each of their eyes, with Happy flying around in a circle. Zoro and Robin smiled in relief.
"About time he's done!" Natsu declared, collapsing on his knees. "He was one of my toughest opponents by far."
"You guys were so awesome!" Luffy commented, getting excited despite sitting from some exhaustion.
"I never thought be teaming up with strangers would work like this." Ruby said, sitting down despite feeling excited herself.
Hinata and Soma simply chuckled in response.
"LUFFY~!"
"NATSU~!/NATSU-SAN~!"
"RUBY~!"
"HINATA~!"
"YUKIHIRA~!/SOMA-KUN~!/YUKIHIRA-KUN~!"
Everyone's attention were immediately drawn to Usopp, Chopper, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Carla, Juvia, Evan, Weiss, Yang, Kageyama, Megumi, Takumi and Mustang running towards them. Not far behind the were Sanji, Franky, Brook, Gajeel, Pantherlily, Levy, Blake, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Akira, Ryo, Alice and Snowy.
"Usopp! Chopper! Sanji! Franky! Brook!" Luffy called out.
"Gray! Erza! Wendy! Carla! Gajeel! Lily! Juvia! Levy! Evan!" Natsu hollered, waving with a smile.
"Weiss! Blake! Sis!" Ruby cheered.
"Kageyama! Tsukishima! Yamaguchi!" Hinata chirped.
"Tadokoro! Takumi! Hayama! Kurokiba! Alice!" Soma hollered.
Suddenly, Luffy, Natsu, Ruby, Hinata and Soma had multiple glowing symbols on their bodies, causing another explosion,
Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Brook, Lucy, Happy, Wendy, Levy, Evan, Yachi, Yamaguchi, Megumi and Hisako screamed in shock.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Gajeel, Kageyama, Takumi and Akira exclaimed in unison, startled by the explosion.
"DID THEY JUST EXPLODED?!" Sanji blurted out. Once the dust settled down, all five were lying sprawled on their backs.
"SOMEONE! ANYONE! CALL A DOCTOR~!" Chopper panicked, comically.
"THAT'S YOU!" Zoro and Usopp snapped in unison.
"Hang on! I'll help!" Wendy hollered, rushing to help the wounded.
"I got Shoyo!" Yachi hollered, being fast to heal her boyfriend.
"Tadokoro! You heal Yukihira!" Hisako ordered, running to where Ruby is. "I got the girl with the scythe!"
"Y-Yes!" Megumi answered, rushing off to Soma.
While the medics work their magic, the other members of Fairy Tail looked up to see the unconscious Jackal and weren't happy to see him.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Gray asked, getting angry.
"I heard there were a few survivors of Tartatos that went missing after our battle with them." Erza sternly said.
"That freak hurt my sister, eh?" Yang asked, cracking her knuckles with the itch to pound Jackal more.
"Be careful. That's a demon." Hinata said, having his head on Yachi's lap while the young manager was using Healing Hands, causing those who just arrived (except the Fairy Tail members) to get startled.
A faint laughter was heard, causing everyone to tense up more. All eyes slowly turned to see Jackal, slowly lifting his head with a devil-like grin on his face.
"What the hell, seriously?" Soma growled.
"He's still alive after all that?" Zoro questioned.
"Pathetic, eh," Jackal snickered, in a weak manner. "I may have lost… but… I'll at least take all of you with me."
From those words, many golden pillars of light erupted from every angle of the island. Everyone quickly realize this spells trouble when a drumming sound was heard.
"He still has that much strength?" Yachi asked, in shock.
"W-What is he doing?!" Usopp questioned, very alarmed.
"Oh no…" Wendy said, with a horror on her face in realizing the last resort Jackal has to win.
"He's attempting to blow up himself and this whole island!" Lucy finished with the same expression, causing everyone to have facial expressions of horror.
"Like hell!" Kageyama hollered, preparing to shoot an arrow while Zoro, Blake, Weiss and Alice were prepared to strike as well.
"Go on and kill me then." Jackal dared. "I'm not the kind of bomb to defuse even if I die."
"You bastard!" Zoro growled, gripping his swords in frustration.
"Dammit… we gotta stop him…!" Hinata hollered, trying to get up but he can't.
Luffy, Natsu, Ruby and Soma were in the similar predicament and can't do anything but struggle.
"Don't do it! Stop it!" Lucy cried out, the lights starting to grow larger.
Jackal laughed like crazy. "Even if I die, I'll just come back to life! IT'S TIME FOR YOU ALL TO JOIN ME IN HELL!"
Everyone in the area, even those with strong wills, were starting to lose hope with the fact even if they managed to kill Jackal, his suicide bomb will still destroy everything, including them.
But when all hope was lost, a blue blur grabbed Jackal by his scarf and flew him up in the air at an incredibly high speed. Everyone were shocked by the blur responsible for the save.
"Happy!" Natsu called out, seeing his best friend trying to do the same thing he did the last time this situation happened.
"What is he…" Ruby said, worried about the action the Exceed is taking.
"You stupid cat!" Jackal hollered, angry that Happy is interfering with him a second time.
"No, Happy! Get out of there!" Wendy yelled, trying to dissuade Happy's course of action.
But Happy wasn't afraid at all. He had a confident look on his face, continuing to drag Jackal upwards without stopping. "Come back as many times as you want! Fairy Tail will stop you, Tartaros!"
"DAMN YOU~!" Jackal cursed, now at an extreme height with Happy before his body exploded in a massive burst.
"HAPPY~!" Natsu screamed, seeing the explosion from below with everyone else.
Everyone were deeply saddened by this noble act, but none more than Fairy Tail, who were like "family" to Happy.
Carla especially, who considered Happy important as Wendy, was close to tearing up. Soon, the dust from the explosion died down, a shine was flying down. It was soon enough Carla's expression changed from sad to totally relieved. As did the Straw Hat Pirates, Fairy Tail, Team RWBY, and the Totsuki and Karasuno first-years upon seeing Happy okay from the explosion.
Tsukishima noticed something different about Happy and tried to hide a laugh. "N-Nice hair."
Happy was flying, completely burnt with an afro hairstyle, but otherwise fine as a fiddle.
"I can't believe I survived that twice." Happy said.
XXX
A minute later, everyone were completely exhausted and sat down in a circle to discuss what each group would decided to do next.
"Well, that was far too close." Levy said, letting out a breath of relief.
"I almost thought we were all gonna die…" Usopp said, comically shedding tears.
"I can't believe we actually went against a demon." Yachi said, still having Hinata in her lap to rest his wounds, despite being wide awake.
"There are some things that need to be answered." Erina said, in a stern tone.
"What would that be?" Erza asked.
"Like, why does the island feel deserted all of a sudden." Erina answered, realizing there is no one other than the group left on the island.
"That is a good question. Where are all the civilians?" Blake questioned, the reality of the island being abandoned is now coming to mind.
Robin was thinking that, but something else was bothering her mind. "Something is more amiss than this."
"Who are these young children? And their abilities don't look like Devil Fruits." Robin thought, now focusing on the other four groups.
In a second, Robin quickly figured out a strange theory that sounded crazy but maybe true. "Could it be…"
Footsteps were heard, alerting everyone with some turning around.
"As expected of the Demon Child, Nico Robin." A voice commented, revealed to be a middle-aged man with dark brown hair styled neat and elegant, dark blue eyes with glasses, and dressed in a royal blue, red and black military uniform with the addition of two long blue coattails that end at his calves.
"And who are you, geezer?" Sanji asked, lighting a cigarette.
"I am Holland Faust. Merely a servant to my master." Holland answered, doing a curtesy.
"Your master?" Erza asked, giving off her signature glare.
"That is for another time." Holland answered, before snapping his fingers to reveal bags that have clothes, electronics, etc.
"Hey, that's our own stuff!" Alice exclaimed, seeing her rosy red bag with all her belongings and change of clothes in it.
"You'll need them. And best escape quickly, children." Holland said, turning his back and walking away.
"Hey, weird guy! Come back!" Luffy hollered, trying to get up but couldn't.
"Stay down, Luffy! You're still injured!" Chopper ordered.
"If you manage to survive, come to Reborn Island." Holland explained, before disappearing in an instant.
"Was that teleportation?!" Happy exclaimed, jumping in surprise.
"Just who was that guy?" Lucy questioned.
"Hey, guys…" Ruby said, laying on her older sister's lap as she pointed to the beachside. "What's that?"
Everyone looked at the direction Ruby was pointing too and saw something strange floating in the sky. But it was small to totally see.
"What's that?" Weiss asked, squinting her eyes.
Usopp used his goggles to get a closer look. "There appears to be something floating in the sky. But I can't get a clear image."
Wendy's eyes widen in dread as the air current rushes rapidly straight to the beachside.
"Wendy? What's wrong?" Carla asked in concern, noticing the Sky Maiden's reaction.
Before an answer could come out, a dark orb began to appear, growing in size for everyone to see. Debris from buildings floated towards the substance and instantly disintegrated into a dark substance, before being sucked in.
"What the heck?!" Yamaguchi questioned, starting in shock.
"A-A black h-hole!" Usopp exclaimed, his eyes bulging from the goggles (comically broke through) in shock.
"B-But that's…. Impossible…" Levy stuttered, in disbelief.
"We need to get away now!" Lucy hollered.
"How can we escape from what ends everything?!" Nami questioned, not sure how to escape a black hole.
Megumi suddenly took out her staff and began to quickly draw strange sigils on the ground at a rapid pace, before grabbing Luffy's right hand for something. Concentrating, Megumi managed to find something and slammed her staff with both hands in the ground.
"EVERYONE! HOLD ON!" Megumi shouted, causing everyone to hold onto each other as a bright blue engulfed them all until they disappeared.
XXX
In a matter of seconds, they were all in midair until they started to fall down screaming.
"Guys, look there!" Usopp shouted to his fellow Straw Hats, which got everyone's attention as they were falling to the Sunny.
"It's Sunny!" Luffy cheered.
"A pirate ship?!" Weiss, Blake, Erina and Hisako exclaimed in unison.
"Not a boat!" Natsu and Gajeel groaned, feeling their stomachs already turning.
Everyone soon crashed onto the Sunny's lawn hard, but the ship stayed strong. Franky wasted no time quickly getting up and immediately headed towards the helm and pulled down a lever to activate one of their best tactics.
"Everyone better hold on! We're flying high!" Franky hollered.
Inside the Sunny's energy room, three barrels of cola were pumping hard and fast. The back of the Sunny was charging up as well.
"Coup de… BURST~!" Franky shouted, and the Sunny blasted off extremely high into the sky by 1 kilometer and safely got away from the black hole that only engulfed the island.
The Sunny soon landed hard on the open sea, causing a lot of rumbling and everyone tumbling around in different directions.
Everyone were soon recovering from their unexpected plight.
"Is everyone… alright?" Lucy asked, rubbing the back of her head.
"By some miracle," Usopp said. "I thought we were gonna die!"
"Hey, guys…" Ryo said, in his usual lazy monotone. "Come take a look at this."
Everyone managed to get up, shrug off any discomfort and walked towards Ryo, and were very shocked to see what is happening: the entire island engulfed by the black hole until it was completely annihilated. There weren't even any ships aside from the Thousand Sunny that have been seen escaping.
There were no words to say. Just silence in the air as everyone's thoughts wondered on their next move.
Next time: Chapter 5 - Regrouping
Happy's big moment saved not only his Fairy Tail comrades a second time, but everyone on the island from Jackal's last resort maneuver. One of the main villains appeared, but he is part of something much bigger. More will follow soon enough.
