I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it, and I also want to thank you for getting this story to over 90,000 views! Here's hoping we can get up to 100,000.
Guest: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. While I thought the whole thing with the Hungry Wolf Knights was kind of boring, mainly because I knew what was coming next, I wanted to do something different so that the fights weren't entirely predictable.
Altajir95: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it.
Yahska: I know it was a bit of a rough start, but to be fair, you can only show so much in the first chapter.
Nightlocktheawesome00: Glad to see someone else thinks so.
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When we last left off…
"The Eclipse is going to save the world… Lucy and Yukino, the two of you are the keys to the plan succeeding… My life is not as important…" to that end, Arcadios suddenly dropped himself down into the lava, the molten substance going up to its ankles "I will not hesitate to sacrifice myself in order to save you, and ensure that this world survives!" he started wading his way forward through the lava, letting out a roar of agony as he did so, with everyone looking on in stunned silence.
"What are you doing?!" Yukino could only look on in horror as she watched Arcadios wade his way through the molten lava "Are you trying to get yourself killed?! Please, you have to stop before it's too late!"
"I can't, I don't have a choice! The two of you have to survive, in order to ensure the survival of the world!"
"Well I'll be damned." Uosuke let out a low whistle at the sight "Not gonna lie, I didn't think I'd see someone that crazy, at least somebody other than me."
"I do what has to be done!" Arcadios gritted his teeth as he reached Lucy and Yukino and started pushing them up onto the ledge "Both of you… please hurry… you have to climb up, before my strength gives out…"
"But what about you, you have to get out of there too!" Yukino pleaded with him.
"You don't need to worry about me… just hurry and go… the two of you must survive… at all costs… Listen to me… if you do manage to leave this place alive… then you have to meet with the Princess Hisui… you have to seek her out…" he pushed her all the way up to the ledge right before he started sinking further into the lava.
"Arcadios hurry, you have to reach for us and take our hands! You don't have to die like this, you can still live!"
"I do what has to be done…"
"It doesn't make sense…" Carla and the others looked on from where they were still pinned to the ground by the effects of the Gravity Zone 'This man is willing to throw away his life in order to save both Lucy and Yukino? It doesn't make sense to me, the premonition I had won't be able to come true if he dies here. So what does that mean then?'
"The two of you can decide… if the Eclipse Project is what we need… whatever happens beyond this point… I know the two of you will make the right choice…" Arcadios forced his head back up to glance at Lucy and Yukino, and he gave a small smile as he prepared to sink all the way into the lava, until…
"Thunder Drive! Dragon Sword Style: Thunderous Purge!" in a golden flash, Luke suddenly blitzed down onto the scene, dropping Lucy onto the ground behind him, and he drove the blade of his sword into the lava and unleashed a powerful surge of electricity, blowing the laval clean away a few seconds before Arcadios could be completely submerged "Sorry about that, it took me a little bit longer than I would've liked to generate enough magic energy with my Thunder Drive to really overpower the effects of his gravity spell, but I guess it worked out. More or less anyway." then he took a quick whiff and gave a smirk "Better than nothing right Loki?"
Sure enough, it was at that moment that Loke flashed onto the scene, and he gave a quick smirk of his own "Oh definitely, more or less is still a hell of a lot better than not at all."
"Good thing you decided to show up to help, but I guess it wasn't really necessary to pull this guy out of molten lava.
"Well I was gonna ask Horologium to help the guy out of there, but it looks like you beat me to it just now. It looked to me like it was out of the frying pan and into the fire, and it's about to be for the sorry One Piece reject up there." then he glanced back at Lucy and gave her his typical smile as he tossed a small pouch to her "How are you doing ladies, I figured the two of you were gonna want these back."
"Aren't you Leo the Lion of the 12 Zodiacs?" asked Yukino.
"Yeah, but these guys usually call me Loke. I'm guessing you're the one that picked up the keys for Libra and Pisces." he handed the keys in question to her "I grabbed the two of them on my way here."
"Oh wow, I can't thank you enough for bringing these back to me." Yukino gave a small meek smile as she hugged her keys close to her "I'm so sorry, I promise you that it's never going to happen again."
"Don't give it too much thought, Libra and Pisces don't usually hold grudges. Only when it really matters."
"That's usually the policy for Fairy Tail too." Luke picked up his sword and dropped back into a stance with it as he turned his gaze towards Uosuke "On the plus side, now that my Thunder Drive is able to overpower his gravity magic and the girls have their Celesital Spirits back, I think it's about time for us to start up the next round."
"So those keys are for spirits?" Uosuke gave a raised eyebrow "I think I get it now, that means the two girls are-"
"Not someone you would wanna underestimate. Good thing too, Lucy and Yukino both have a bunch of really powerful spirits at their disposal. Combine that with Lucy's Star Dresses, the fact that Loke is here in the flesh, and I have my Thunder Drive active constantly, I think it's safe to say this guy is gonna have a hard time. All 12 Zodiacs gathered in the same spot, it should be one hell of a sight to see. I might not even need to fight much here, but giving a little bit of support probably wouldn't hurt.'
"Well I'll be damned." Uosuke let out a low whistle "It looks like things are about to get hella crazy for all of us."
"That's one way of describing it." Luke glanced back to where Arcadios was being sprawled out on the ground by Lily and Carla 'On the plus side, at least he's still breathing. Good thing I was able to get through the lava to him when I did. Still though, the fact that he even survived having to wade through a pool of lava is pretty impressive, not to mention that my sword did. That really could've turned out bad.'
"Luke, stay back and protect the others." Lucy stepped forward, with Yukino doing the same as the two of them pulled out their golden Zodiac keys "Yukino and I are about to serve up some serious vengeance on this guy."
"You sure you don't need my help?"
"I think we've got this."
"Alright, but if it looks like things are about to take a turn for the worst, I'm gonna jump in, no hesitation. Got it?"
"Got it." Lucy gave him a reassuring smile as she turned back towards Uosuke "You'd better be ready for this, it's payback time!"
"Go ahead and give it a shot!" Uosuke held out his hands as the entire area started shaking with his magic power "Terrain Effect: Gravity Zone!"
"Open, Gate of the Heavenly Scales: Libra!" Yukino pulled out one of her Zodiac keys and used it to open the gate.
The gate opened, and from it emerged Libra in all of her glory "How might I be of service to you milady?"
"The enemy uses gravity manipulation, I need you to cancel it out."
"As you wish. Gravity Change: Counter Balance!" Libra got into a stance as both of her hands started glowing with green energy, causing a bright light to fill the area "Counter Balance has now been completed."
"Excellent."
"Sounds pretty promising to me." Luke breathed a quick sigh as his Thunder Drive subsided "It might be for the best too, I should probably conserve as much magic power as I can. Good luck with this one guys."
"Thank you sir."
"Oh come on, that's totally not fair!" Uosuke was quick to protest this turn of events "You can't just change the gravity however the hell you want!"
"But you just did." this comment was ignored.
"Fine, two can play at that game! Terrain Effect: Gale Force Zone!" Uosuke stuck out one hand and unleashed a powerful gust of wind that left the others struggling to keep themselves from being blown away.
Loke on the other hand, he seemed more concerned with his view of Lucy "Oh hell yeah, looks to me like we've got one hell of a nice view back here!"
"And that's my cue to intervene. Dragon Sword Style: Thunder Dome!" Luke drove his sword into the ground and erected a dome of electricity, protecting everyone from the winds "That may be a little bit excessive, but it does get the job done. You guys want me to take over from here on out, or are you good?"
"Thanks, but I think we're good. Open, gate of the Maiden: Virgo!" Lucy pulled out another golden key and opened the gate.
The gate in question opened, and Virgo burst up from beneath the ground and gave a simple bow to Lucy "Strong winds and a burning pit just for me? This punishment really is one of my most desired dreams come true, so thank you Princess."
"...Yeah no, I'm not even gonna touch that one."
"And it's nice to see you again Big Brother." she glanced over at Loke, which prompted him to give a smirk.
"Are you seriously still making her call you that?"
"Oh my." Yukino held up a hand to her mouth in shock "I had no idea that the two of them were even related."
"Trust me, they're definitely not related, but it's way too messed up to explain. Anyway I think we've done enough small talk, we've got a bad guy's ass to kick! Virgo, you go ahead and do your thing!"
"Then dig I shall." Virgo wasted no time in digging a series of hole in the ground, allowing the others to take refuge in them.
"Alright Loke, go ahead and get him!"
"Say no more, I'm on it! Regulus Impact!" Loke didn't waste a moment as he burst forward towards Uosuke and attempted to strike him with a Regulus Impact, forcing Uosuke to go on the evasive as a result.
"Looks like things are gonna be a lot safer down here." Luke glanced down at Arcadios and the Exceeds, then poked his head out of the hole to see the battle taking place 'This guy is a lot more nimble than I thought he'd be, he's dodging Loke's attacks without too much effort. Then again, I of all people should know that you shouldn't judge anyone by their appearances. I mean take a look at me. Putting aside the sword I keep strapped to my back, I probably don't look like too much to the naked eye. Then there's the fact that my best friend, roommate and sparritng partner happens to be a talking cat with an unhealthy obsession with brownies full of weed. How in the fuck did I get to this point in life?'
"Oh hell no!" this was when Uosuke finally got fed up with his squabble with Loke "I've had more than enough of you and your fish hole, and now you're making me pretty mad!"
"Is that so?" Loke shot him a confident smirk "Then why don't you go ahead and do something about it?"
"Fine, I will! Terrain Effect: Cold Zone!" Uosuke spread out his arms and engulfed the entire area in a thick layer of ice, leaving the others shivering and Loke frozen in a block of ice.
"Well on one hand, these ladies definitely aren't dressed for the cold. On the other hand, that kind of works out for me." Loke was met with a dirty look from Lucy "I know I know, time and a place for that stuff."
"I got the feeling you misjudged the gravity of your situation." Uosuke waved his hands and sent both Lucy and Yukino hurtling upwards towards a series of stalactites hanging from the roof of the cavern, which prompted both Luke and Loke to prepare to pounce, until…
"Gravity Change: Counter Balance!" Libra reactivated her Counter Balance to stop them from ascending right before they could come into contact with the stalactites.
"God dammit, what is it with this chick and screwing with gravity?!"
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Meanwhile, with the flower girl and the Sky Maiden…
As her battle with Wendy unfolded, Cosmos had activated her sleeping spell Makura Kamura and used it on Wendy, which was supposed to make the user fall asleep, and then make them stay asleep forever. Wendy was able to put up a valiant effort, but in the end she eventually lost consciousness as the effects of the spell appeared to take hold of her.
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Meanwhile, with the love interest…
'Shit!' Cana was sent skidding back a short distance as she dodged another swing of Kama's twin scythes 'This guys is a lot more nimble than I though he was gonna be. So much for this being an easy win.'
"This is a rather interesting prospect." Kama retreated back a short distance himself "You truly are quite lightfooted for a lawbreaker, which serves as a fairly stark contrast to the weight of the crimes you've committed against the kingdom."
"You keep saying that, but those giant scythes of yours aren't gonna be able to do you much good if you can't hit anything with them. I use Card Magic, so I know exactly what I'm talking about when I say that."
"You can run from your sins for as much as you like, but you will never be able to escape them, or the swift justice that they bring down upon you! They are a part of you, and they are etched into the very fabric of your soul and memories!" Kama brought his twin scythes together, causing a series of purple handprints to appear across Cana's body.
"Okay, so what the hell is this? It better not be some kind of weird magic that involves groping, I put up with enough pervs just dealing with Macao and Wakaba."
"Those marks serve as proof of your offenses, and you will never be able to wash completely clean of them. Tell me, does your heart not ache from such destruction?"
"You mean all the times that I accidentally destroyed something with my Card Magic and earned the wrath of the Magic Council? You seriously don't have any idea what Fairy Tail is all about, do you?"
"Such impiety, I can see that you are beyond forgiveness."
"Maybe from you, but I already made my point pretty clear to you. I already told you about my greatest sin, one that I decided to learn from, and use it to do better."
"Say what you will to convince yourself, but the result remains the same. I will behead you where you stand here and now! Execution technique: Guillotine Justice!" Kama raised his right hand, causing his twin scythes to combine into into one larger, double-bladed scythe that started spinning like a propeller as it hurtled towards her.
'I said I'd do better, so I'd better start doing it now!' Cana didn't waste a second as she dodged the first strike of the propeller scythe "Too slow for that one creep." but then she was forced to dodge after the propeller scythe circled back around.
"It's as I told you before, while you may be able to run from your sins, the fact is that you will never be able to truly escape them. My Guillotine Justice will relentlessly pursue the purple markings on your flesh until justice has been served, and your life comes to an end. Now the time is upon us for you to reflect upon your sins and drown in your despair."
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Meanwhile, at the Domus Flau…
As the Grand Magic Games continued to rage on, various members of Fairy Tail took the chance to congratulate Mavis on her analysis and abilities, but she was left worried because she was able to sense the various members of the Rescue Team engaged in a series of battles against the members of the Hungry Wolf Knights, and that they had been separated from each other in the process.
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Meanwhile, with the main character of this fic and his group…
"Oh god…" Lucy was left shivering as she was slowly returned to the ground "Why the hell did he have to make it ice? It's so cold…"
"Oh hell yeah!" Uosuke gave a cocky laugh "What's the matter blondie, do you feel those arms and legs of yours going numb on ya already?"
"Well I can tell you this now." Luke used his sword to cut away some of the ice that was encasing his legs, and he glanced over to where Virgo and Loke were dancing around the place in a very distraction way "Whatever the hell Loke and Virgo are doing, I'm pretty sure it's not gonna do much to melt the ice."
"It is rather strange though." Yukino glanced up at where Loke and Virgo were dancing around like a couple of idiots "They're so lively for Celestial Spririts, so it's obvious how much they must genuinely care about Lucy."
"That's one way to describe it, but another way is that it's the sort of effect that being associated with Fairy Tail can have on a person."
"I'm sorry Princess, but all of this dancing has exhausted me, so I'll be going now." Virgo gave the others a bow, and then she just vanished in a flash.
"They're all pretty much insane in one way or another."
"But I thought you said that you were all like a family."
"Oh we are without a shadow of a doubt, but being part of one really big family doesn't detract from the fact that they're all fucking crazy." Luke let out a sigh, but then he let out a chuckle "I have to say this though. Crazy or not, you can't deny that there's definitely a certain charm to them, and that you can't help but enjoy being around them. Love them or hate them, you can't deny that when it comes to being around these people, there's no such thing as a boring or dull moment."
"Yes, I suppose you're right." Yukino started shivering even more, and her eyelids started drooping "My body is almost completely numb, and I'm getting sleepy."
"Which means that we're either gonna need to find a way to lift the ice spell or take this guy down altogether. I think that means it's about time for me to step into the fray already." Luke's gaze turned hard as he stepped forward and dropped into a stance "You guys go ahead and make sure to stay back, I don't want you guys getting caught in the crossfire anymore than you already have. I have to be careful about this. One wrong move and I might bring down the entire place on Lucy and the others. Granted my Thunder Dome would probably be able to ward off anything, but I also want to conserve my magic power. I know the lacrima implanted in me would generate it back, but there's no telling what else we're gonna have to deal with after we beat these guys.'
"Looks like things are about to get pretty interesting." Uosuke gave a wide grin "You think that's because you guys are so boring most of the time?"
"Did you not hear anything I said to Yukino? The thing about Fairy Tail is that things are known to get crazy as all hell, but things never get boring. It's always gonna be exciting in one way or another, like right now for instance!" Luke tightened his grip on his sword and blitzed forward in a flash.
"You might wanna watch your step." Uosuke flexhed one of his fingers, causing Luke to slip on the middle of his charge "You should know that running on ice is just asking for a pretty nasty accident to happen."
"Good thing I've got other ways to get around then." Luke suddenly blitzed behind Uosuke with a surge of electricity and dealt him a sharp kick to the back that sent him crashing into the ice face first "Dragon Sword Style: Thunderclap Strike!"!" he prepared to follow up with a powerful blast of lightning from the blade of his sword
"Shit, shit, shit!" Uosuke was able to rebound just in time to avoid beind hit by the attack, though he ended up slipping on his own ice and was forced to reatreat back a short distance "You're a lot more nimber than I figured you were gonna be.
"And that about ends it. Lightning Dragon Talon!" Luke blitzed in front of Uosuke and dealt him a lightning-enhanced kick straight to the chest, sending him tumbling back a great distance and causing all of the ice in the surrounding area to melt "Huh, well that went well. What was that you were saying about people in Fairy Tail being boring?"
"Looks like that went pretty well." Loke gave a smirk as he wrapped an arm around Lucy "This is just another victory secured by the power of our love."
"Yeah sure, whatever works and gets the job done right?"
"Ya bunch of goddamn criminals…" this was when Uosuke picked himself back up and wiped the blood from his lip, a dark look in his eyes "You never know when to quit do ya? Well now I just got mad, and believe in me when I tell you that when I get mad, things get bad."
"Was the rhyming intentional, and weren't you already mad to begin with?"
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Meanwhile, with a certain princess…
Back at the grounds of the tournament, Hisui was left worried when she heard her guards talking about how Arcadios was supposedly a traitor, as well as how Fairy Tail was involved, and that the Hungry Wolf Knights had been sent on a mission to execute them, and were now engaging in a series of battles to carry out this task.
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Meanwhile, back in the dungeons…
"Okay, so what the hell is this thing?" Uosuke shot a blank stare down towards where Plue stood in front of him "Uh, hey there." and then for some odd reason, the two of them started dancing together.
'Okay good, he's falling for it, just like I planned.' Lucy glanced over at the bizarre sight, then glanced off in a certain other direction and gave a smirk 'Plue should be able to distract this guy while Luke and Loke get Arcadios somewhere safe.'
"Fish, fish, fish, fish! Gravity Zone!" Uosuke summoned his Gravity Zone once again, which sent Plue crashing to the ground and causing him to disappear.
"...Okay, I think that's enough screwing around." Lucy's gaze hardened as she pulled out one of her golden keys "I think it's about time for me to get serious."
"What are you going to do?" asked Yukino.
"I'm gonna put my three months of training to good use. I call upon the power of the Golden Bull, Taurus!" her body was enveloped in a golden light "Star Dress: Taurus Form!" when the light subsided, she was clad in her Taurus Star Dress "I hope you're ready for this."
"So now you're changing clothes in the middle of this?" Uosuke raised an eyebrow "Criminals sure can be weird sometimes."
"Like you've got room to talk, so are we gonna fight or what?"
"Hey yeah sure, I mean I've got a job to do right."
"And so do I." and then the battle began as the two of them started running across the battlefield and clashing with each other, Lucy and her whip against Uosuke and her flag pole, and she tred to use her whip to strike Uosuke in his side.
Uosuke stopped the whip with his flagpole and had it wrap around it, and he leapt back onto the wall of the cave "Crap!"
"Earth Wave!" Lucy pounced towards him and used her whip to strike the wall, shattering a large part of it and forcing Uosuke to go on the evasive.
"Crap, crap, crap!" Uosuke leapt along the remnants of the cavern wall and dodged a series of strikes by Lucy's whip, and when he saw Lucy blitz in front of him and bring down her whip towards him, so he leapt off the wall to avoid it and tried to strike her with his flag pole.
"Lucy KICK!" Lucy ducked underneath the flagpole and dealt Uosuke a brutal kick to the side, sending him hurtling along the wall of the dungeon.
Uosuke was quick to rebound and dodged the next series of strikes Lucy was trying to deal him with her whip, and so he was able to wrap the whip around his flagpole and hurled both it and her aside, taking Lucy with it as a result, and then he closed in for the kill.
"Lucy Gut Punch!" Lucy ducked underneath Uosuke's attempt to pounce on her and dealt him a brutal fist to the face that sent him tumbling to the ground.
Uosuke was quick to stop himself by slamming his pole into the ground, and he quickly wiped the blood from his lip "Gotta admit, you definitely know your stuff."
"I had a good teacher, and if you put in enough effort it gets easy after awhile."
"Too bad it ain't gonna be enough for your little plan to work." that caused Lucy to stiffen "Yeah that's right, yall must think I was born on the boat yesterday. I know you fighting me like this and using that little snowman spirit to distract me were just your way of trying to buy time for that injured friend of yours."
"So you saw that?"
"Well shit." Luke cursed under his breath from where he and Loke were trying to carry Arcadios away to safety "I figured it was worth a shot at least."
'Dammit, he actually saw through that? I didn't think he'd be that smart.'
"You got that right Miss Criminal." Uosuke gave another wide grin "You guys are dealing with the sharpest dang hook in the tackle box! Terrain Effect: Torment in Agony Zone!" with a wave of both hands, he surrounded his body in a purple sphere of energy as a series of torture decvices started appearing throughout the area, forcing the others to try and go on the evasive, but quickly catching a number of them.
"Dragon Sword Style: Thunderous Purge!" Luke spread two fingers along the blade of his sword, and a surge of electricity eradicated the torture devises trying to ensare him, and then he tried to do the same to the one pinning Arcadios to the ground "Hang in there, I'll have you free in a second."
"Don't you move a muscle pretty boy, you're more trouble than a hole in a net, so you drop that sword of yours and don't move another muscle, or else I'm gonna give beardy over there the closes shave of his life." he had a series of spikes pointinng at Arcadios' face to emphasize this point.
'...Dammit, he had to pull that card out of his ass didn't he?' Luke gritted his teeth as he slowly dropped his sword to the ground.
"Aw what's the matter folks, you don't have any more tricks up your sleeve, or any more of those magic critters to call up for ya?"
"How about it Lucy, you got a few tricks to play on this guy?"
"He does have us on the ropes, so I think it's time to change that." Lucy gave a smirk as she pulled out another key "Open, Gate of the Scorpion…"
"Indeed, it's time to end this." Yukino pulled out a golden key of her own "Open, gate of the Two Fish…"
"Scorpio!"
"Pisces!"
"WICKED!" Scorpio appeared on the scene in a flash of light, along with two gigantic twin fish appearing beside him.
"Holy hell, it's some hardcore fresh eel!" Uosuke started drooling over the appearance of Pisces, only to be forced to go on the evasive when they started charging at him "I could eat for a full month on these puppies, that's one hell of a haul we've got going for us!"
"And things are about to get a hell of a lot more wicked! Sand Buster!" Scorpio pointed his tail forward and unleashed a powerful sand tornado from the tip of it, hitting Uosuke with it and sending him flying.
"Alright way to go, that's awesome work on your part!" Lucy gave him a thumbs up.
"Wicked! Yeah, I'll just be over here if you need me."
"Huh? What's the matter?"
"Nothing on this end Lucy." this was when Luke got Lucy's attention from where he and Loke were carrying Arcadios out of the line of fire "You gave us the time we needed to get this guy out of harm's way, so that's all good. What about you?"
"Thanks for getting him out you guys, but I think Yukino and I can take over from here!"
"I'm still over here you know!" as it turns out, Uosuke had given up on dodging Pisces' attacks and was now riding on one of their backs like he was surfing it "There's gonna be a cold day in hell before you pack of criminals are gonna be able to shake me off!"
"We'll see about that. How about it Yukino, are you ready?"
"Let's do it."
"And I'll jump into the mix too. Scorpio, get ready!"
"Now Pisces, attack!" Yukino's command prompted Pisces to start hurtling Uosuke high into the air.
"I call upon the power of the Lion, Leo!" Lucy pulled out another golden key as her body was enveloped in a golden light "Star Dress: Leo Form!" when the light subsided, she was clad in her Leo Star Dress "Now Scorpio, hit him with a Sand Buster!"
"Wicked! Sand Buster!" Scorpio fired another Sand Buster from his tail "Yeah, that dude is definitely gonna hurl! Go ahead and give him all you've got Lucy!"
"You got it, I just have to be careful not to hit Pisces. Regulus Impact!" Lucy stuck out a fist and unleashed a wave of golden magic energy, firing it into the sand tornado, with a blinding light emanatin from within after the attack was finished "Oh hell yeah, right on target!"
"It's such a beautiful attack to boot." Yukino noted.
"Yeah it- Wait a second, that's not coming from my attack."
"Terrain Effect: Plus Midnight Sun Zone!" a blinding white light began to shine around the area, and then it subsided to reveal Uosuke standing on top of the downed form of Pisces "I bet you didn't see that coming did you? I just up and fought light with light, and I guess mine was a hell of a lot brighter!"
"Wait a second, you mean you can do that?!"
"You'd better believe I can!"
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Meanwhile, at the Domus Flau…
Back at the colosseum, Warren was attempting to make contact with the rescue team through use of his telepathy, only to have no success in doing this, and Alzack was led to suspect that the urban legends about the Hungry Wolf Knights may turn out to be real after all. Keeping this in mind, Mavis was left to conclude that since they couldn't contact the rescue team, the only thing that they could do was have faith in them and their abilities.
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Meanwhile, with the love interest…
"Shit!" Cana managed to duck underneath another of Kama's attacks, and she breathed a sigh as she backed off to gain some distance "Huh, kind of expected more of a payoff to that. You never even hit me once with that giant propeller blade of yours."
"You do have surprising levels of mental fortitutde." Kama noted as he put away his twin scythes on his back "You acknowledge your sins but refuse to atone for them, and yet you also refuse to face your punishments. Never before have I encountered such a lawbreaker."
"Members of Fairy Tail aren't like regular people. I don't suppose you're gonna just give up and let me pass already?"
"Like the rest of your comrades, you're going to learn that there is no deliverance. Surrender and make this easier on yourself, and I give you my word that your end shall be swift, and you will soon meet the others in the afterlife."
"This is why I keep saying you don't know anything about Fairy Tail. There would be a freaking blizzard in the hottest depths of hell before you'd see any of them just like down and die like a dog in front of the other members of your squad. They haven't given up against any big threat before, and none of us plan to start now."
"You waste your words. A lowly guild wizard would dare to defy the will of the kingdom with no hesitation?"
"Given everything you and the others have done to my friends, that's the least of the things you have to worry about. The others wouldn't give up, and neither will I." and so she pulled out a few cards as she dropped into a stance "Now let's do this."
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Meanwhile, with the Celestial Spirits…
"Regulus Lucy Kick!" gritting her teeth, Lucy unleashed a Regulus-enhanced kick that ripped through a guillotine being hurled at her "Okay Yukino, if you've got some kind of plan you wanna use on him, now would be the time!"
"At once! Now Pisces, go!" Yukino pointed her key forward, causing Pisces to erupt in a set of two golden balls of light, revealing two humanoid forms in their place, one being male and the other being female, earning more than a few dropped jaws.
"What in the name of hell happened to them?!"
"This is the true form of Pisces, the humanoid forms of a mother and her son."
Sure enough, the two halves of Pisces materialized in their human forms, the son with dark skin and spiky light hair, and the mother being a beautiful woman with tanned skin and a head of glossy dark hair "There can only be one reason why we would be summoned like this, and that's to wipe out the enemy and to do it with style."
"Excellent, thank you for agreeing to help."
"And to look good while you do it." Loke let out a low whistle "I've gotta admit, for a gal that's had a kid she sure as hell never lost that body." he was met with dull looks from Luke and the others "What? You guys know what I'm about."
"I'm counting on the two of you."
"You got it." the son gave a nod as he and the other charged forward "Alright mama, the two of us are on it!"
"I'm not your mother, you know that!"
"You're damn right she's not!" the mother and the son both continued to charge forward as they dodged Uosuke's attacks with ease, ripping through him with their own set of attacks as they did so.
"They may be… a bit colorful at times, but they are a formidable pair."
"No kidding, they're totally amazing!" Lucy's face lit up at the onslaught "I gotta be honest, I'm kind of jealous of you right now."
"I feel the same about you. I suppose we should be grateful for the partners we have, and that we can trust each other to help each other out."
"We're about done!" this was when the mother and son directed their attention towards where they had Uosuke lying on the ground in front of them "I think it's about time for the two of us to make quick work of him."
"Yes ma'am, and I'll do so gladly." the son pointed his spear forward and prepared to charge in to finish it, when…
"Terrain Effect: Lava Zone!" Uosuke bolted to his feet and summoned a pool of lava from beneath the surface they were standing on "Oh hell yeah, now I've got some spicy eel stew coming right up on us!"
"You'd better keep your guard up mom, I'm pretty sure that he just said something about trying to eat us."
"After the stuff we've seen this guy do, nothing will surprise me anymore." Luke told him dryly from where he and Loke were still holding onto Arcadios "Don't worry about the big guy, we've still got him, even if his height isn't just for show. He weighs about as much as he looks."
"Although I will say this, I wouldn't mind holding the two of you so close to my chest right about now." Loke glanced over at Lucy and Yukino and gave the two of them his typical charming grin, only to falter when he noticed the dull look Luke was giving him "What? It's like I said, you know what I'm about."
"We all know that by now, but there's a time and a place for that sort of thing, and it's not when we're stuck in the middle of a giant pool of lava. Although I will say that while we're on that subject, I wouldn't mind holding Cana so close to me- Fuck, you're rubbing off on me, one of my greatest fears."
"In the meantime, I think it's about time for the two of us to cool things off a little bit for the rest of you! It's about time to beat the heat!" to that end, the two halves of Pisces summoned a large torrent of water that cooled down the lava, causing all of it to solidify into rock in a large cloud of steam.
"What the hell?!" Uosuke was left gawking in disbelief "Yall just up and put out my fire just like that?! But how in the hell did a little bit of water up and do all of that?"
"It's a simple matter really, our magic power is a great deal stronger than yours."
"Oh man, this is really taking a lot of power out of me…" Lucy was left panting slightly as she fell to one knee "I don't really know how much longer I'm gonna be able to stay in my Star Dress form…"
"Why don't we give it one final push, and that should be enough to do it." Yukino told her "Are you still with me?"
"You'd better believe I am, it's time for us to filet this fishy freak! I think I've got enough power left to get the job done. Regulus Lucy Kick!" Lucy blitzed in front of Uosuke and dealt him a Regulus-enhanced kick to the jaw, sending him flying into the air.
"Celestial Torrent!" the two halves of Pisces took it upon themselves to add onto Lucy's attack with a powerful torrent of water, sending Uosuke hurtling backwards as a result.
"Yes, now that's how Celestial Wizards and their spirits get things done!"
"Nice work." Luke gave a small smile and a nod of approval 'If anyone had any doubts after her fights with Flare and Minerva the way she took down the Twilight Ogre team, this is a pretty clear indication that her three months of training before the games definitely paid off.'
"Oh hell no to the hell no!" Uosuke bolted back to his feet, only now he looked pissed "I've had it about up to hear with those stupid critters! Terrain Effect: Whirlpool Zone!" with a wave of his hands, he summoned a torrent of water that engulfed the entire area "There we go, now you're all about to get washed up just like some good old fashioned chilly gumbo!"
"This is bad!" the two halves of Pisces found themselves submerged in the water as well, much to their grave concern, the son in particular "The current is too strong for us to get through!"
"You have to fight it, just be sure to stay tough." the mother told him, but then they both froze and were suddenly forced to return to their fish forms.
"This is bad." Yukino looked on at the scene as her expression "I don't understand though, how could he possibly know that Pisces has a weakness to water?"
"Wait, are you serious?" Luke shot a raised eyebrow at her "You're telling me that the spirit whose entire shtick revolves around being a pair of twin fish of all things, gets weaker when it ends up in water? Nevermind, are you guys okay down there?"
"Given the circumstances, we've been a lot worse!" Lucy called out to him "I don't know what this guy is planning, all he did was soak us and we didn't take any damage. Plus the water is too shallow to drown in."
"It might be regular water, but it's still a series of whirlpools. Whatever happens when we get sucked into the center of them, I doubt it's gonna be good. Make sure to stay as far away from the center as possible, okay?"
"Right, got it."
"This is it you pack of criminals." Uosuke started taunting them as his wicked grin was matched only by the wicked gleem in his eyes "You guys are gonna be sleeping with the fishes until the cows come home."
"Go ahead and give it a shot, we've still got plenty of tricks up our sleeves!" Lucy pulled out one specific golden key "Whirlpools or not this is still water, and I think you just gave me exactly what I needed to turn the tide of this battle. And that's enough of the puns. Open, Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!" she used the key to open the gate.
The gate in question to reveal none other than Aquarius herself, and in her typical fashion, she looked pissed as all hell "Why the fuck am I here?!"
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Meanwhile, with the She Devil…
In another part of the Abyss Palace, Kamika was able to bind Mira using her Paper Magic, and then went on to bombard her with a barrage of different elements, before surrounding her with a thick cloud of poison gas. Mirajane wasn't particularly thrileld about this, since she believed that magic was supposed to be used not to kill, but to protect."
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Meanwhile, with the love interest…
"You wanna go? Well let's go!" Cana retreated back to gain some distance from one of Kama's attacks and pulled one of her cards out of her deck "Magic Card: Tempest Blade Barrage!" she summoned a series of wind blades from the card and sent them hurtling forward.
"A criminal such as you should not waste your efforts." Kama used one of his scythe blades to cut clean through the barrage of wind blades, negating them in an instant "Just as I said, your magic has been neutralized. My right side is used for reaping the heads of criminals, and my left side is used for reaping the magic of said criminals. You can unleash all of the magic power that you like, but the result is going to be the same regardless, little more than hot air and the sound of your life leaving your body."
"You really love to hear yourself talk don't you? Guess what, you're not the first guy who loves the sound of his own voice that I've fought, and you sure as hell won't be the last, but I'm gonna take you down all the same. Magic isn't the only thing I've got going for me, so if that isn't gonna work on you, then I'll just have to go for the head!" to that end, Cana blitzed forward and dealt Kama an uppercut knee to the jaw, sending him hurtling back a fair distance.
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Meanwhile, with a certain Exceed…
"Get real you Garfield reject, is that all you've got?" Bolt unleashed a surge of electricity from his Shatterstorm to fend off another series of attacks "I've dealt with pissed off drug addicts that pack more of a punch than you do!"
"Well sploosh to the sploosh." Neppa let out a chuckle "I've gotta admit you're a lot tougher than I figured you were gonna be, I never thought that skinning a cat was gonna turn out to be this much fun."
"I was about to say the same thing to you. Seriously dude, your face looks like a fucking cat but without the whiskers."
"I don't give a damn what you think I look like, but it looks like you had some seriously hardcore training before now."
"Trust me big guy, you don't know the half of it."
"I guess what's what makes you look like such a hardass, but I can wash all of that crap away with a little splash of my special blend! Sploosh!" he then infused the ground around him with a series of acidic properties.
"Go ahead and try it fatass! Thunder Burst!" Bolt morphed Shatterstorm into its axe form and unleashed a powerful blast of lightning, the surge of electricity cancelling out the acid and sending both of them skidding backwards.
"You sure are one hell of a nervous little pussy cat aren't you now? Well isn't that something, here I though my magic acid was gonna be able to eat through just about anything, but I guess not, because there you are trying to fry me to a crisp."
"Believe me, I'm gonna do more than try."
"Works for me, because I sure as hell love a challenge."
"You also love the sound of your own voice obviously."
"Oh is that right?"
"It's pretty obvious, in a fight when you're up against a guy that keeps bitching about how he's the best at everything, the dude is obviously gonna get spanked. He's pretty much compensating for something else, if you take my meaning."
"Is that why you keep squawking like a pissed off rooster?"
"I'm willing to bet that you can't dissolve anything that's smarter than you, which I'm more than willing to bet is a lot, and that you can't kill anything stronger than you. A real warrior knows how to go beyond that, and that's why I'm not gonna lose."
"Oh is that right? Well that's a nice little speech, but it sure as hell isn't gonna help you. As a matter of fact, you just up and made things a hell of a lot worse, because I'm done fucking around with you. It's time for me to close in for the kill!"
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Meanwhile, with the Celestial Spirits and their party…
"Go ahead and give it a shot, we've still got plenty of tricks up our sleeves!" Lucy pulled out one specific golden key "Whirlpools or not this is still water, and I think you just gave me exactly what I needed to turn the tide of this battle. And that's enough of the puns. Open, Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!" she used the key to open the gate.
The gate in question to reveal none other than Aquarius herself, and in her typical fashion, she looked pissed as all hell "Why the fuck am I here?!"
"Oh great, nice to know that she hasn't changed a bit." Loke shared a glance with Luke, but this earned him an even more pissed off glare from Aquarius in the process.
"If you've got something nasty that you wanna say about me, then do the world a favor and spit it the fuck out already!"
"And just like that, I rest my case."
"What the fuck was that?!"
"Boy howdy." Uosuke let out a low whistle "Not gonna lie, that is one funky looking chick."
"You wanna run that by me again you One Piece reject?"
"Come on Aquarius, go ahead and take this guy out." Lucy told her, only to be met with a loud scoff in response "Hey what the hell is with that attitude, I thought that you and I got past this already."
"Yeah well, we're not. You know I'm not feeling it today, so you go ahead and do you, but I'm out of here. See ya."
"Wait no, please don't go!"
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."
"Let me guess, she and Scorpio having some relationship problems again?" Luke shared a quick glance with Loke, only to find himself on the receiving end of a death glare from Aquarius.
"You wanna run that the fuck by me again?! You'd better not know about something that I don't, because if I find out that you or any of the others are keeping secrest from me then you and the others aren't gonna live to regret it! You got that?"
"Bolt and Scorpio are in the same poker group, he tells me things. Besides, he looked pretty downcast when Lucy summoned him earlier."
"...You'd better not be trying to manipulate me like some kind of puppet."
"I'm just doing what I have to in order to protect my friends, starting with taking out the guy that looks like he just came straight out of One Piece."
"You tell me what you know later, end of story."
"Quit jawboning already and let's get on with, don't forget that we've still got a hell of a lot of executing to do, ya hear me?" Uosuke waved his hands and summoned a series of whirlpools hurtling towards them.
"Hey watch it asshole!" Aquarius was quick to suck the whirlpool into her magic urn "I'll have you know that I don't like being interrupted, you hear me?!"
"God dammit woman, that whirlpool was a real doozy and you just up and sucked the whole damn thing up!"
"If you guys really wanna know the truth, then apparently Scorpio went on a date with some other girl."
"Wait what, you mean he up and cheated on you?!" Lucy's jaw dropped at this.
"And apparently someone even saw them!"
"So we're actually doing this now." Luke shared a glance with Loke, and then he glanced down towards Lily and Carla "You two have anything to say about this?"
"I would try to stop them, but I doubt they'd listen." Lily told him flatly "Frankly given the current situation, I doubt I would be able to do much good."
"Is that why you haven't changed into your big form to try and take him down?"
"It was a number of factors, mainly concerning his Terrain Effect magic, and the fact that I only have the one sword and I would prefer not to use it unless I had to. Besides, it seems that you and the others had it covered, and I'd rather save my strength for when it's truly necessary."
"Like preventing gossip hour in the middle of a fight agains an executioner squad?"
"You did contribute to this as well."
"To be fair, I was trying to put a quick stop to it, but that didn't really pan out."
"Well hot damn." Uosuke let out a low whistle 'Meddling in the lovelife of a lady is like having to wrestle against a shark, you're gonna get bit one way or another. Oh wait, that reminds me of something. So this here water is what land that crabby fish lady in here isn't it? Then that means that if there wasn't any cold water around, then she wouldn't be around neither.' and then he gained back that creepy stupid grin of his.
"Okay the bad guy is giving that weird creepy grin, I think that means he's gonna try something pretty bad. Keep your guards up!"
"Terrain Effect: Hot Water Zone!" Uosuke outstretched his arms up into the air, causing the water to start boiling and emitting a large cloud of steam.
'He's raising the temperature of the water, does that mean he's trying to burn Lucy to death or something? Lucy whatever he's planning, you'd better get out of there before-"
"Hot hot hot hot hot!" Lucy quickly bolted out of the boiling water and onto a nearby rock as she let out a yelp of pain.
"...Before that."
"Oh yeah, now that hot water of mine has you all jumping out of your pants!" Uosuke gave an even wider grin "Looks to me like things are about to get really heated up now, I'm just about ready to reel you in."
"Yeah, something tells me this isn't gonna end well."
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Another battle was about to reach its climax.
Thanks to her support spell Re-Raise, Wendy was able to overcome Cosmos' attacks, leaving her thoroughly enraged and causing her to unleash a rapid barrage of attacks. Fortunately, Wendy's various support spells were able to keep her safe for the most part, and once she ripped through all of the attacks, she went on to finish it with her Shattering Light: Sky Drill.
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Meanwhile, with the love interest…
"Why do you continue to resist?" Kama retreated back from Cana as he pulled both of his twin scythes off his back "All your efforts do is postpone the inevitable, and your Card Magic has no effect against me."
"That's why I said I was gonna do it the old fashioned way." Cana blitzed in front of Kama and dealt him a solid roundhouse kick to the face, sending him hurtling backwards "Like a wise man once said, if you're nothing without magic then you shouldn't have it to begin with."
"I've had enough of your hubris as well as your crimes, and as punishment for both of these you shall pay with your head."
"I've had more than my fair share of fights where I didn't use any magic, so I'm not gonna lose after everything I've been through with the others. Besides, I've got someone else that I want to stand by, maybe tell him how I feel when this is over, and this is just another stepping stone to doing that."
"You guild wizards are absolutely absurd, there's no other way to describe it. You are strong and driven, those are facts that I can't and won't deny, but it doesn't change the fact that you will still fall before me like all of the other criminals have before you, and like them you shall soon be nothing more than a nameless corpse."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that, but go ahead and give me your best shot."
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Meanwhile, at the Domus Flau…
Back at the games, Max and a few others were walking off some nerves and grabbing a few snacks, having grown restless about the status of the rescue team. This was when they bumped into Lisanna as she was trying to stop a worried Elfman from going to aid Mirajane. After having convinced Elfman, the rest of the Fairy Tail wizards decided to head back to the arena and join the others, with Lisanna noting just how strong Mira was. What none of them noticed was that a guard appeared to be eavesdropping on the group.
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Meanwhile, with a certain She Devil…
Within the Abyss Palace, Mirajane finally unleashed the power of her Satan Soul and went on to absorb all of the poison around her. Kamika was taken by surprise by this and tried to attack with a series of different spells, but Mira was able to overcome each of her tricks without too much difficulty.
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Meanwhile, with the Celestial Spirit party…
"Crap, crap, holy crap!" Lucy scrambled further onto the rock she was on "This water is boiling, I'm gonna get roasted alive like a freaking fish, and that means Aquarius can't use it to attack that other guy! Now what the hell are we gonna do?"
"First we probably should verify that." Luke glanced over at Aquarius "Just for the sake of some clarification, does the temperature of the water actually have an impact on whether or not you can use it?"
"You're damn right she can't!" Uosuke gave another wide grin "So why don't you me a favor and haul yourself right on out of here you rotten little fish, you're all used up and I guarantee that if I was your boyfriend I would've thrown you back too."
"...I think you just signed your death warrant man."
"You wanna run that the fuck by me again?!" Aquarius turned towards Uosuke and shot a dark and livid glare in his direction "To answer that question the smart one asked me earlier, the actual temperature of the water doesn't make a bit of difference to me, and the blonde idiot over there used to summon me in the middle of her baths when she was a kid."
"Seriously?" Luke glanced over at Lucy with a raised eyebrow "You actually did that?"
"I was just a little girl back then." Lucy shuddered at the thought "Those weren't exactly some of my more pleasant memories though, so I usually try to block them out. On the other hand, those were the days where I learned not to piss her off if I wanted to live."
"...Fair enough."
"Oh come on!" as one could imagine, Uosuke wasn't particularly happy about this "I thought for sure that was gonna work, that's such a load of chum!"
"Remember what they say about assuming, although I guess in this case it just ends up making an ass out of you. Alright then Lucy, I think it's about time for you and Aquarius to teach him a lesson."
"I've got a better idea." Aquarius suddenly gained a wicked gleam in her eyes "Why don't we skip all of that, and instead I just kill him."
"...Yeah, summoning her might have been a mistake."
"Maybe, but this sure as hell isn't! Water Pillar!" Aquarius summoned a large pillar of water from within her urn that engulfed Uosuke in an instantly, sending him hurtling into one of the walls and knocking him out cold.
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Meanwhile, with a certain Exceed…
"You're about to get punked!" Neppa gave another wide smirk as he shot a series of purple spheres of acid forwrd, forcing Bolt to go on the defensive "You're wasting your time, there's never been a single criminal in this entire freaking kingdom has been able to get away from my Multi-Angle Acid technique, so go ahead and say your prayers!"
"Go ahead and keep running your mouth, it's all that you're really good for." Bolt let out a loud snort as he wiped the blood from his lip 'This is getting pretty tiresome, I've done enough screwing around with him, so I say it's time to end this. Luke would never lie down and die like a fucking dog to a guy like this, and I sure as hell won't either. That's something I took to heart every single day for the last 7 years, since Luke and the others disappeared after that whole fiasco on Tenrou Island, and I spent that time training to master Shatterstorm, and I used that to protect Fairy Tail and everyone in it! No matter how many times I fell, no matter how much pain I felt, no matter how many we lost, I never gave up before, because I know he wouldn't have given up, and I won't start now. You're not gonna beat me asshole, I've trained myself to the absolute limit, and all the acid in this entire fucking world will never eat that away."
"We'll see about that kitty, now sploosh!" Neppa sent the acid hurtling towards him.
"You can't beat good old fashioned conviction, or this!" Bolt pointed Shatterstorm forward as it morphed into a large broadsword "This is my strongest weapon, and now you're about to feel it shoved right up your ass! Excalibur: STRIKE OF ASCALON!" with a mighty roar, he sent forth a massive blast of electricity, ripping through the acid and sending Neppa tumbling back in a scorched heap.
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Meanwhile, with the love interest and her opponent…
"Damn you!" Kama cursed at Cana as he was once again sent skidding backwards from one of her attacks "I don't understand, you shouldn't even be able to touch me. Are you some kind of inhuman monster?"
"Sorry about that." Cana wiped some blood from her lip and shot him a smirk "I might not be a monster, but I am a wizard of Fairy Tail whose spent ages training until her bones cracked, to the point where I can do stuff like this." she leapt over another trust of one of Kama's scythes, then grabbed the blade with one hand, and it started to crack under the pressure of her grip "I rest my case."
'I don't understand, where is all of this strength coming from? How in the hell can this woman still have so much magic power?'
"I told you before, magic isn't the only thing I've got going for me." Cana blitzed forward and dealt Kama a brutal uppercut kick to the jaw, then a kick to the chest that sent him tumbling backwards in a heap.
"You… How dare you… With that, you've truly made yourself into an enemy of the kingdom and all who live in it."
"You mean I've made myself into an enemy of you. In any case, I'm not really worried about that either way, but you definitely should be, because it's an even bigger mistake if you want to make yourself into an enemy of the Fairy Tail guild, and that means every single wizard and person in it. None of us are scared of the kingdom or anyone else that's tried to bring us down, because we've beaten them all before and we'll do it again if we have to!" and then she dealt him one solid fist to the face that sent him crashing through a wall, ending the battle. She then let out a sigh as she ran a hand through her hair "Well that was kind of a pain."
"That was about what I thought of it." this was when Luke poked his head into the room "Hey, looks like you handled yourself pretty well."
"Thanks, the new spells did work for awhile."
"That reminds me, did you really use material from Black Clover in order to create new spells for yourself?"
"You might be surprised to hear this, but you and your BFF's, aka the Earth Dragon Slayer and the cat that does drugs in brownies, aren't the only ones that can use a bunch of different anime as inspiration for new attacks and spells."
'...I'm loving this woman more and more every minute. Right, looks like we all took care of these guys and finished around the same time."
"Really?" Cana poked head head through the wall to see the defeated members of the Hungry Wolf Knights all sprawled out against each other "Huh, well that's convenient."
"Tell me about it, but at least everyone is okay, so that's the important thing. Now all we have to do is figure out a way to get the hell out of this place."
"Let me handle that one."
"To think criminals would be so powerful…" Kama glanced up at Cana "You defeated us in the heat of battle. Do you intend to finish us now?"
"Nope, that's not our style. Either we've convinced you that we're not criminals by now or we haven't, but that's not the way we do things. Still though, we could use some directions on how to get out of here."
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Meanwhile, back at the games…
While lying sprawled out on the ground Rufus was left to recount how his defeat at the hands of Fairy Tail, or Gray in particular. All the while, a few members of Mermaid Heel were discussing the current position of their team, and the announcers were left to update the score to the crowd and the rest of those present, showing which team was placed where so far:
Day 5 results (so far)
Team Fairy Tail: 49 points
Team Sabertooth: 49 points
Team Lamia Scale: 48 points
Team Mermaid Heel: 43 points
Team Blue Pegasus: 29 points (eliminated)
Team Quatro Puppy: 15 points (eliminated)
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Meanwhile, in the Abyss Palace…
"Well this is just perfect." by this point, Cana and the rest of the group, after finishing their series of battles against the Hungry Wolf Knights, were once again wandering their way through the Abyss Palace in search of an exit, though they weren't having much luck "It doesn't matter where we go, all of this crap looks exactly the same. How the hell are we supposed to know if we're even going the right way?"
"A little bit of optimism in times like this can't hurt." Luke reassured her "Though if it helps, I am picking up some kind of scent up ahead, though I'm not really sure what it is."
"Not to mention I can kind of sense a breeze." Wendy noted "So I'm pretty sure that this will lead us out of here."
"That's also reassuring. Hey what about you Loke, you've got any ideas on how we can get out of here? For that matter, how did you get down here in the first place?"
"I don't really know, I just jumped more or less." Loke gave a shrug.
"You mean you didn't pay attention to how you got down here in the first place?"
"Sorry man, I usually live by the philosophy of leaping before you look."
"And that's how you know you're part of Fairy Tail."
"That's putting it mildly." Cana let out a snort "I'm pretty sure the simplest way to describe Fairy Tail is, you don't have to think or use any brain power as long as you have heart and the power of family."
"That's about the sum of it. It's not necessarily a bad thing though."
"I never said it was." Cana glanced over at Luke, and the two of them started blushnig as they locked eyes, but then she quickly looked away and glanced over at Arcadios "What about him, you think he knows a way out?"
"He wouldn't be of much help in the position he's in. Speaking of which, how's he holding up anyway?"
"Given all the crap he went through, he could be a lot worse." Loke told him
"I know what you mean, forcing himself through a pool of lava to save Yukino while the rest of us were stuck under the effects of the gravity spell takes a lot of guts, but I'm kind of surprised he's still alive."
"Well your sword and your lightning magic had a hand in that too I'm guessing."
"Actually no, he jumped in before anyone had a chance to help. That takes guts."
"And check out his necklace, that's no ordinary piece of jewelry. The jade stone actually serves as a strong protection charm."
"Huh. Nice."
"There's jade again, just like Zirconis was." Wendy commented "When we met his spirit he called himself the Jade Dragon."
"He definitely liked to hear himself talk a lot, and now that I think about it, doesn't the name of Princess Hisui actually translate to Jade?"
"Yeah it does, but what are you thinking?" asked Cana.
"I'm thinking that as far as this Eclipse Project goes, if we're gonna get some answers then she might be the one we want to talk to."
"We're definitely gonna be having a few words with her, considering she threw Lucy down here to begin with."
"Another fair point, but whatever the case, the fact is that we have to find a way to get the hell out of here first and let the rest of the guild know that we got Lucy back and that all of us are okay."
"We've still got a hell of a ways to go." Mira pointed out "There's no telling how deep this cave is gonna go to begin with. Hell for all we know, they might be able to fit an entire fucking city down here."
"Just wait, chances are we're probably gonna run into some kind of underground city at some point. At this point there isn't really much that surprises me." Luke let out a chuckle, but then he stopped and motioned for the others to do the same as his gaze hardened "Wait, hold on a second you guys."
"What's the matter?" asked Cana.
"I'm picking up a scent not far ahead of us."
"That probably means we're almost at the exit, so I guess that guy from the Hungry Wolf Knights actually gave us some solid info."
"That's something I was wondering though." Lucy commented "Don't you guys think it's kind of weird that the rest of us told them their names, but the leader never said what his was?"
"I never really gave it much thought, but if we gotta call him something then I guess we might as well call him Reaper or something along those lines."
"Not very original."
"Well you were the one who wanted to call him something."
"Okay, we can play another round of Name That Assassin later." Luke told them dryly as he jerked a thumb at the large door that stood in front of them "Giant door dead ahead."
"You think that's gonna be our way out?"
"Either that or it's about to lead us into another ridiculously elaborate trap."
"Or it's gonna require some ridiculously elaborate way of opening it."
"That's another possibility. Whatever the case, we should expect something to happen when we open it. Good or bad, we're about to find out. You guys go ahead and stand back, I'm gonna try and open this thing." Luke stepped forward and drew his sword, only to stop when the doors suddenly opened from the other side 'Huh, well that was definitely unexpected. Someone opened it from the other side, but is this part of another trap? I'd better not let down my guard in case there's- Wait a second…'
The door opened to reveal a hooded female figure standing in front of them, though the hood covered her face, her voice soft and quivering "So you're here…"
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Meanwhile, at the palace…
Inside the palace Mercurius, Princess Hisui was informed that the Hungry Wolf Knights had been defeated by the members of Fairy Tail, much to her relief, although she concealed it. However, this was when Darton showed up and told her not to carry such an expression. Hisui was startled by this and questioned why he wasn't with the king at Domus Flau, to which he explained that he returned because he felt there was trouble. As Hisui questioned why Arcadios was sent to the Abyss Palace without a trial, Darton went on to reveal that Hisui had used the members of Fairy Tail as a way to rescue Arcadios, as well as the fact that Hisui was the true mastermind behind the Eclipse Project, and Arcadios had taken the fall for her. He also told her that she should not proceed with her plan, because it was too dangerous to change the world. Hisui countered this by claiming that the world should be changed, and that the Eclipse had a second phase known as the Eclipse 2. She went on to explain that without it, the entire kingdom would be wiped off the map as soon as the next day came in.
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Meanwhile, in the games themselves…
The hype for Fairy Tail continued to grow stronger within the crowds, given that all five of their members were still active so late in the game. When questioned by the other members of the guild regarding their strategy, Mavis assured them that there was no need to worry, and that everything was falling into place.
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Meanwhile, with a certain idiot…
"Things are looking up for Fairy Tail ladies and gentlemen, with all five of there members still in the game, they're looking like an unstoppable force!"
"They don't know the half of it." by this point, Natsu was wandering through the streets of Crocus in search of his opponent, and he was quick to grow impatient "Come on, where the hell is the guy I'm supposed to punch? The others are all probably fighting right now, and there's no way in hell they'd lose, so where's my guy? I've already got a fire in my belly!"
"One would have to be a fool to not see the fire that burns within your spirit, but it takes more than spirit to become a true warrior."
Natsu whipped around and unleashed a fist coated in flames just in time to block a roundhouse kick from Xian "The First Master did say that I was gonna fight the guy that had some fancy footwork and weird energy stuff."
"The term is Chi, it's the energy that flows through all living things, and it's not something that can be referred to as weird so callously. What about you then?"
"What about me?"
"What sort of tactic do you intend to use?"
"I don't need a freaking tactic or strategy or any of that crap, I'm just gonna focus on hitting you hard with everything I've got."
"In other words, you don't go into the heat of battle with an actual strategy?"
"I'm letting the master handle that, I don't do that sort of thing. What's your point?"
"Evidently my point is one that you just made for me. I saw this when I witnessed you fight during the battle against the Oracion Seis, and clearly that hasn't changed about you in the time you were gone. You're more than just confident in your abilities. You're arrogant and you show a sense of complacency, and that will be your downfall."
"What the fuck does that mean?"
"It means that you're going to lose this battle for a number of reasons. For starters, I can tell that when you go into battle, you charge in head first like an enraged animal, going all out right from the beginning, whereas a true warrior would know how to keep it under wraps and put out their power in short intense bursts. I learned this from my masters, along with the knowledge of how to strike with the strength of a lion, but the grace of a hummingbird. This is a prime example of what I refer to, especially when the opponent leaves themselves wide open!" Xian blitzed forward and dealt Natsu a solid elbow to the face, and then he charged in to try and land a follow up attack.
"You wanna go? I'll show you what a Dragon Slayer from Fairy Tail can do! Fire Dragon TALON!" Natsu ducked under Xian's next attack and tried to hit him with a fire-enhanced kick to the head, only for that kick to be blocked, resulting in the two of them trading even blows.
This came to an end when Xian grabbed Natsu by the leg and hurled him towards one of the nearby buildings.
"Fire Dragon SWORD HORN!" Natsu rebounded off the side of the building and tried to take down Xian with a fire-enhanced headbutt.
Xian ducked underneath the attack, then burst upwards and dealt Natsu a solid roundhouse kick to the face, and then he charged in to land a follow up attack.
"Fire Dragon ROAR!" Natsu managed to hit Xian with a roar at point blank range.
Xian was forced to block the roar with his forearms as he channeled his Chi, though he was still met with some minor burns in the process, though once he recovered from this he was quick to take off running in the opposite direction.
"There's no fucking way you're getting rid of me that easily!" Natsu pounced after him in his typical rage.
Xian continued retreating until he came across a building at the end of the road, then waited a moment for when Natsu caught up with him, ducked underneath the inevitable pounce and dealt him a brutal uppercut kick to the jaw, sending him hurtling into the air, and then he leapt into the air and dealt Natsu a palm strike to the chest, sending him tumbling to the ground, also igniting his anger even further.
"Oh that fucknig does it?! You wanna see me use my head, well here it is! Fire Dragon SWORD HORN!" Natsu hurtled back up towards Xian in a rage as he attempted to hit him with a fire-enhanced headbutt, only to be met with the two of them trading even blows on a rooftop, though he was quickly sent crashing to the ground by a palm strike to the face, leaving him to pick himself back up and wipe the blood from his lip "FUCK!"
"It's like I was trying to warn you about." Xian breathed a sigh as he returned to the ground to meet Natsu at eye level "To put it in simple terms, you're not a warrior, you're a brawler. You don't bother to think, just charge in and hit your opponent really hard. That might work in Dragon Ball, but not in this world."
"It's worked out for me so far."
"That and a considerable amount of dumb luck and coincidences I'm sure. In any case, I don't mean to be so blunt but I have a lot riding on these games. I need to settle this fight quickly, or else I may as well throw my goals out the metaphorical window."
"There isn't a chance in hell I'm gonna give up without a fight!" Natsu charged at him again, and the cycle began to repeat itself.
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Meanwhile, with the Queen of the Fairies…
At the same time, Erza was heading off into another area, expecting to fight Minerva, as had been predicted by the strategy Mavis introduced, but she was taken by surprise when she ended up meeting Kagura instead, leaving her to wonder how Mavis had gotten it wrong, but their clash began nonetheless.
As a little side note, this caused Mavis to start tearing up, especially after Freed made the mistake of saying out loud that even she could miscalculate, leaving him and the rest of the guild to try and stop her from crying, while Mavis herself was wondering how her predictions could've gone wrong.
Anyway, getting back to the fight, Erza was quick to take note of how powerful Kagura was, even with her sword still in its sheath. This was when a wormhole suddenly opened between the two of them, and a set of hands reached out and grabbed both of them by the faces, which took everyone by surprise, and then Minerva appeared through the portal and attacked the two, showing her desire to join the battle, which took everyone by surprise. Regardless of this, the three of them prepared for a three way battle, leaving the others in the stands confident of their victory to come. Erza declared that she wouldn't hold back against them, while Kagura was left wondering why Erza would cover for Jellal, given the history the two of them shared from their time in the Tower of Heaven. Minerva then told the two of them that because of the actions of their guilds, people have started to look down on Sabertooth, and she claimed that she would get rid of them and rectify that. As Erza noted how confident Minerva sounded, Kagura suggested the three of them end their talk and begin fighting, and so they did, creating the powerful explosion that followed.
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The ensuing explosion could be seen for miles around.
"Holy shit…" Natsu broke off from his attack on Xian and his jaw dropped when he noticed the explosion going off, and his gaze hardened momentarily "Erza, don't you fucking dare lose to any of them, you hear me?"
"They all hear you, and the fact that you let yourself get distracted." Xian blitzed forward and dealt Natsu a brutal uppercut knee to the jaw, sending him hurtling backwards, while Xian then took a glance in the direction of the explosion, and his gaze softened 'Kagura, don't lose to them now, and please don't give into your demons. Not until I get there. I promise you, I will rectify my mistakes and save you from yourself.'
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The three way battle between the foremost female mages in the game was now underway.
The battle raged on between the three of them ferociously, none of them managing to gain any sort of significant advantage over the other, until it became evident that the three of them had reached a stalemate. Unfortunately, this was when Minerva revealed to Erza and Kagura that she was using Milliana as a hostage, enraging both of them, which only caused Minevra to smirk with malice.
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Meanwhile, inside Mercurius…
Despite her claims, Hisui was left doubting the word of the person that informed her, though it was noted by Darton that the people of the country would still be in danger. Hisui claimed that the person knew that the future would be one guild winning in a way that no one would've expected. Darton questioned if this meant that the future would be determined by the outcome of the games, and should it turn out as the person said, and if they future that they spoke of would be true, then Hisui claimed that she would open the gate herself. As such, Darton suggested that they stop the Grand Magic Games as a way to avert the crisis.
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Meanwhile, in the Abyss Palace…
The door opened to reveal a hooded female figure standing in front of them, though the hood covered her face, her voice soft and quivering "So you're here…"
"Yeah, but who are you?" Luke gripped the hilt of his sword on instinct, but then he took a quick whiff of her scent, and then he froze as a chill went through his spine 'This scent… There's no mistaking it, I would know that scent anywhere… but it couldn't be…'
"I finally get to see you again Luke…" the figure finally broke the tense silence as tears started streaming down her face.
"What the hell… Cana…?"
Sure enough, the figure removed her hood to reveal the face of Cana Alberona, albeit with a long jagged scar running along her left cheek and tears flowing "Please, I need you to help me Luke. I need you to lend me your strength."
'This doesn't make any sense. She looks like Cana, she sounds like her, she knows who I am, hell even her scent is exactly the same. This isn't Edolas or anything like that, so how the hell could this be?
"Please help me, I'm begging you to lend me your strength. If you don't, the whole kingdom is as good as doomed. We're going to lose everything."
'What the hell have we gotten ourselves into this time?'
A/N:
With this chapter, we see the battle with the Hungry Wolf Knights comes to an end, but the struggles our heroes have to face is far from over, as a mysterious woman from the future reveals himself to them. This struggle is far from over. No far from it, it's just beginning. Speaking of which, I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I had a fair amount of writer's block, or really inspiration block, and I kept getting distracted by other stories and school, and a lot of other stuff I have going on right now. But don't worry, this story is nowhere near dead.
Sorry if it seemed like I sort of rushed through the battle against the Hungry Wolf Knights. To be completely honest, I found all of the stuff with them to be pretty boring (at least compared to what I knew was going to come), and I wanted to get to the part that comes after this, when a certain visitor from the future reveals herself to Luke and the rest of the group.
Yep, it's about time to address the elephant in the room: Future Cana showing up in place of Future Lucy. Going into this arc, I knew from the beginning that I was going to have Cana's future self show up in place of Lucy. Keep in mind that the main subplot of this arc is focusing on Luke and Cana's, and the feelings they have for each other. Of course, for the woman from the future, if you've seen this arc already then you know what happens to the first time traveller. However, this isn't the only surprise I've got in store for this half of the arc. As for what else I have planned, you're just going to have to wait and see.