Chapter 108

Wings of Despair

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Skip

Torafuzar crashed into the bottom of the depths, actually catching Tempester by surprise. "Hang on, Levy!" Gajeel growled as he shook the book worm. She opened her eyes and found him staring at her. "You were the one who gave me air, right? Do it again!"

'Again…?' She repeated before a blush over took her face and she shook her head.

"I don't care, hurry up and do it!" Gajeel shouted. "And while you're at it, do it for Salamander and his friends!" She shook her head again. "Quit staring at me like I got a booger on my face! Use your damn magic and make some more air!"

Levy stared at him and blinked before a massive deep red blush covered her face. In embarrassment, she waved her hand and created the Solid Script word for Air before the two dived into it, turning it into an air pocket.

"Air?" The demon questioned.

"What the hell took you so long?" Gajeel questioned, panting between breaths. "Aw, who cares. Go help Salamander and the others!" He dived back into the water before punching Torofuzar's fist. He spun and kicked the demons face before dodging a fist. Gajeel roared and swung his fist as gas escaped the holes littered over the demon's body.

He took the hit square in his chest as Gajeel's iron scales cracked and shattered, breaking his arm. "I can control the density of my body." Torafuzar declared as Gajeel screamed in pain, holding his broken wrist. "My prowess is in my defensive abilities. Your iron won't even put a dent in me. Not that it matters…"

Gajeel started sinking as Torafuzar grabbed him. "Thanks to the iron that covers your skin, you've been able to slow the absorption of the toxins within the water. But it looks like they've finally begun to kick in. The poison of the Dark Deluge should have worked its way into all of you.

"As I said, all who are submerged in this water will perish. This is as far as you go."

Growling in anger, Gajeel burst the hand open and punched as hard as he could, breaking his wrist even more. "This is how humans fight!" Gajeel roared as he punched punched the head, knocking the demon backwards.

"Impossible!" Torafuzar shouted in shock. "Meager iron broke through my defenses!? No, that isn't iron! Somehow he absorbed the trace amounts of carbon within the deluge… he turned himself into steel!?"

"Steel Dragon Sword!" Gajeel swung his arm as fast as he could, shattering the armor and sending the demon to the floor in defeat. The waters faded away as everyone landed on the ground, Tempester glaring at the humans. "Don't forget my song, Salamander…"

His knees gave out and he stumbled onto the ground. "Crap, there's still… one more." Instantly, Tempester was behind him, fist ready to kill. Purple ice suddenly shot up from between the two, forcing the demon back. Gray landed and stared at the Curse user, a look in his eyes like he wanted to kill.

"That's the guy who beat Laxus?" He questioned, making Gajeel nod. "I'll get his blood, you just make sure it gets to Porlyusica once I'm done."

"You think this is gonna be easy?" Gajeel questioned. Gray said nothing as he rushed forward. Tempester summoned a wall of hurricanes, only to watch as they were frozen solid. "You gotta be kidding me…"

The Ice Wizard reached his target and clasped his hands together in a quick draw sword style. "Ice Devil Zero Long Sword!" He slashed at Tempester and instantly froze him solid. With a sheathe of the blade, the body crumbled to pieces.

"What the hell was that…" Gajeel pondered.

"I'll be the one to crush Tartaros." Gray declared as he walked away.

With Erza's Group

Walking through a broken gate, the group stared at the broken control room. "Is this it?" Erza questioned, squeezing on Franmalth.

"Yes it is." The demon declared.

"Erza, look!" Happy pointed over to see the body of Crawford slowly moving, typing on the Archive spell.

Erza rushed over to stop him, only to suddenly freeze in place. "What is this!?" Her hands slowly rose up and wrapped around her neck, choking herself. "My body… isn't listening…"

"What's going on?" Happy questioned as everyone else was doing the same.

"Damn it…" Minerva cursed as she looked up.

"None can resist my Macro curse." Sayla declared standing next to Kyouka.

"It can't be…." Erza gasped out. "The former chairman is…"

"My Marco doesn't work as well on corpses, but I can still command them." The horned demon declared.

"If we have the late Crawford's clearance level, we can complete all 3000 Faces even from here." Kyouka added with a smirk before turning to the side. "I didn't think you'd have the guts to show your face here, Minerva." She confessed. "Tell me Erza, how does it feel not being able to move? Does it remind of our time in the torture chamber?"

Footsteps rushed forward before Mirajane punched Sayla in the face, launching her backwards. "We can move again!" Lily cheered as Crawford toppled over.

"How dare… you…" Sayla groaned out as Kyouka rushed over. "I'm so sorry, that's all I have… The Face Project."

"You did more than enough, Sayla." Her lover replied. "Rest assured. The ex-chairmen has completed his job. All the Face bombs will go off soon."

"Lady Kyouka…" Sayla groaned. "You're the last of the Nine Demon Gates… Please, avenge us all. And let me return to Lord Zeref's side."

"Worry not." Kyouka leaned down and gripped her hand, a glow flowing off the two. "I shall send you, both body and soul."

"Erza! You have to stop her!" Happy shouted.

"Be victorious, Lady Kyouka…" Sayla mumbled as she closed her eyes.

"Worry not."

"I shall stop Face." Erza declared, donning her Amadura Fairy Armor.

"I will destroy the enemy in the name of Zeref." Kyouka declared.

"I'll stop it, no matter what!" Erza shouted as she charged forward.

"You're already too late." Kyouka said before swinging her claws, meeting the sword hand on. Erza slid back and the demon threw chunks of stone at her. The red head sliced them apart and managed to kick Kyouka in the face, sending her back. Erza rushed and slashed at her side, cutting the demon in the stomach.

"Incredible…" Minerva mumbled.

Mirajane smiled before flinching in pain, forcing Happy to run over. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine…" She replied.

"That reminds me. Weren't you with Lisanna?" He asked.

"We ran into a bit of a… problem." Mirajane sighed, shuddering at all the memory of all those Lamy's. "She managed to escape in all the confusion. I followed her while the others stayed behind.

Kyouka chuckled as she clutched her fresh wound. "Very impressive, Erza. As I thought, you're a lot like us." A sudden pressure wave of magic suddenly hit everyone, freezing them in fear.

With Wendy

Wendy suddenly fell over, scaring both Doranbolt and Carla. "Wendy! What's wrong!?" A glow scared the two as a guttural sound echoed throughout the sky.

With Gajeel

"Gray was here?" Juvia questioned as the others finally woke up.

"He just headed somewhere." Gajeel answered before holding up a bloody bag. "Levy, take this to the old lady."

"Now we can heal Laxus and the others." Levy cheered.

Lucy glanced over to the side as Natsu sat away from the group. "What's wrong, Natsu?"

"He's probably just pouting after hearing that ice powered idiot stole his win." Gajeel chuckled.

"Gajeel…" Natsu mumbled, shaking in fear. "Can't you hear it?" Gajeel tilted his head in confusion as the Fire Wizard turned to him. "This voice…"

Gajeel went wide eyed as a roar echoed around them. "What is this?" Juvia asked in fear.

"That voice… there's no mistaking it…" Natsu whispered in fear.

With Mard Geer

The ground shook from the echo as he looked around, just as confused as the two humans. "This goes above and beyond my wildest expectations…" The Underworld King confessed. "For him to show up now… Did it come seeking this giant demon? Or did it come following after Zeref…"

"The hell are you babbling about?" Sting shouted.

"Acnologia…" Mard Geer answered as the dragon roared around them. He turned back to the duo and found them frozen in place. "I wonder… just what does his arrival foretell? Not even I can say." He jumped onto some rubble and looked as the being of destruction tore through the field with just a flap of his wings.

"Now I see…" The Underworld King mumbled. "You've come for E.N.D., to hunt him down before he can threaten you. Fear cracks your whip, for you know once reborn he will be unstoppable. So you plan to kill him now before he grows. How amusing."

The black dragon blasted the ground with a roar and it burst into flames, flying through them with no damage.

"Acnologia's here!?" Cana asked in horror.

"That thing that took out Tenrou Island?" Wakaba shouted. "It can't be."

"It is!" Macao shouted.

"We don't stand a chance…" The Card Mage mumbled. "We barely made it last time. What now?"

"We need to get Laxus and the others to safety!" Elfman shouted, flinging a Lamy off his back. "Everyone else find cover! We can't just give up!"

"How are we supposed to beat this!?" Cana asked back with tears in her eyes.

"Not beat, just survive." Elfman replied. "That's all we can do right now."

With Natsu's Group

Natsu stayed on the ground and clutched his chest as Lucy crawled over to him. "Natsu? Are you gonna be okay?" She questioned before putting her hand on his shoulder. The blonde pulled it back from the sheer heat coming off him. "That's hot!"

Gajeel was in no better shape as iron started growing on him. "It's because they're dragon slayers… Their bodies are reacting to Acnologia…" Juvia guessed.

They watch the dragon that haunted their nightmares floated in the air, preparing for a roar like the one that almost killed them.

"Natsu." The Fire Wizard flinched at the voice before looking around, the voice echoing in his head. "It's been too long, my boy."

"…Igneel?" He questioned.

"It must be you who defeats E.N.D." His father declared, confusing Natsu even more.

"Igneel!? How can I hear your voice?" Natsu shouted, scaring the others.

"Fear not. I will deal with Acnologia." A glow on his chest caught everyone off guard as Natsu burst into flames. Screaming in pain, a pillar of sheer fire pushed the others back. "I never left you, Natsu." The tower of flame and smoke was blasted away, revealing a massive red dragon in the air. "In fact, I've been closer than you could ever know."

The humans stared up in shock as Igneel flapped his wings, flying into the sky. "All will be explained in time. But for now, I mist wipe the stain that is Acnologia from this world!" The fire dragon slammed into the black dragon, killing the attack before it could fire. "Fight, Natsu. Fight to live!"

Lucy glanced over to Natsu and found tears were falling from his face. "Dad…"

Remember how I'm saying over and over again that I'm following the manga. Prime example right here. That Laxus fight against Tempester was completely anime original. And honestly, I think I like Hiro's version better cause it makes A HELL of a lot more sense. If Laxus is comatose and close to death, he's not gonna suddenly have the strength to stand up and fight.

But the big twist of this… yeah, did NOT see that coming. Who'd have thought the dragons would be hiding INSIDE the Dragon Slayers? Not me, that's for sure. And boy, do I have plans for Laki in this arc, not just involving Drusta. I'll see you all next time.

Beta read by General Feng Xiang.